Mars Rover “Curiosity” Lands On Mars …Update: “Everything Looks Great!”
Posted by Andrea Ryan on Monday, August 6, 2012, 12:36 AM
This artist’s concept depicts the rover Curiosity, of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, as it uses its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument to investigate the composition of a rock surface. ChemCam fires laser pulses at a target and views the resulting spark with a telescope and spectrometers to identify chemical elements. www.foxnews.com
What an amazing scientific feat by NASA geniuses. Weighing 2,000 pounds and approximating the size of a car, the rover “Curiosity” has successfully landed on Mars.
Reuters explained the goal of this mission,
The Mars rover Curiosity, on a quest for signs the Red Planet once hosted ingredients for life, closed in on fringe of the Martian atmosphere on Sunday for a make-or-break landing attempt that NASA calls one of the toughest feats of robotic spaceflight.
Curiosity, the first full-fledged mobile science laboratory sent to a distant world, was scheduled to touch down inside a vast, ancient impact crater on Sunday at 10:31 p.m. Pacific time (1:31 a.m. EDT on Monday/0531 GMT on Monday).
Mission control engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles acknowledge that delivering the one-ton, six-wheeled, nuclear-powered vehicle in one piece is a highly risky proposition, with zero margin for error.
But less than an hour away from Curiosity’s rendezvous with Mars, JPL’s team said the spacecraft and its systems were functioning flawlessly, and forecasts called for favorable Martian weather over the landing zone.
After a journey from Earth of more than 350 million miles (567 million km), engineers said they were hopeful the rover, the size of a small sports car, will land precisely as planned near the foot of a tall mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater in Mars’ southern hemisphere.
Update: According to the NASA engineers on NASA’s live Ustream, the first images came through and they report that “everything looks great”!
Update: NASA has just published its first images from Curiosity.
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shibumi commented:
Amazing news! If only a mechanical arm could plant a little US flag.
Redwine commented:
Watched it. Very exciting. Most important space event since the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Comrade Barry Hussein claims credit in 3, 2, 1…
Flintstone F. commented:
Optimus Prime?
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Watched it too. Very exciting. This thing is as big as an SUV and has 17 camera’s. It’s much more sophisticated than the other Rover’s.
FurryGuy commented:
Sadly a rarity with NASA and the missions to Mars….a successful landing. Let’s hope this rover exceeds expectations of mission longevity just as the other rovers previously have done.
Well done, NASA!
Ghost commented:
Why doesn’t Curiosity have an American Flag on it?
kind’a makes it difficult to know who built it, who sent it, who paid for it, y’know?
gee, you’d almost think those “NASA geniuses” were ashamed or afraid of something.
ps: mission was conceived, drawn up and commissioned long before Obummer usurped the Oval Office
FurryGuy commented:
This mission is really a rarity for NASA and unmanned missions, the lander used parachutes and retro-rockets to land. Not cheap as unmanned missions go, but I guess NASA finally learned that cheap isn’t cheap when the mission fails because the rover crash-landed.
squeaky commented:
will hussain “the less” somehow find a way to make this about himself? another gutsy call if you will.
Sickofobama commented:
Obama built that!
Just kidding.
But wait for coming attractions to see if Dear Leader takes credit.
southernsue commented:
can we be sure that this is true?
is it just another global warming lie?
i don’t trust anyone in gov any more. we have been told so many lies.,
MN Jim commented:
Since NASAs current mission is Muslim outreach, it is good to see this scientific project left over from the last administration.
anti-bho commented:
Yep, this is all Bush’s fault.
But all snide remarks and comments aside, shouldn’t an accomplishment such as this deserve more discussion than who’s the last guy to sh*t on a cop car or at least as much?
pink tie Republican commented:
A waste of billions. They will find no life on Mars (although they may claim they did to get more $).
Highlander commented:
My heart swelled with pride when Curiosity touched down, and all the NASA people were celebrating and crying. It brought tears to my eyes too. Muslim outreach program my ass. Yes Mr. President, we DID build this, despite your funding cuts and crappy attitude toward American exceptionalism.
bg commented:
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CONGRATUALTIONS TO NASA ET AL!!
btw:
Obama’s Plans For NASA: Mars By
2030, $6 Billion Budget Increase Today
but Newt Gingrich’s promises
of a US moon colony by 2020
IS TOTALLY NUTS!!
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bg commented:
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speaking of the King in the building..
August 6, 2012
Pulling at the Thread: The Ever-Changing Narrative of Barack Obama
[Though I have not seen them, I can guarantee you that
nothing on Romney’s tax returns caused anyone’s death.
The left clamors for candidates to be an open book. They look upon
Romney’s wealth as a electoral weak-spot on which to focus, because
in Obama’s America, “success” is a dirty word. Romney has released
the tax returns required. He has assured us he has paid his taxes,
but not more than that which is required. He also donates almost as
much money to charities as he pays in taxes, but that is not discussed.
Instead, we are left with an asinine discussion and baseless, hearsay
accusations by a backroom-dealing senator. If the left ever wants to
gets serious about getting to know the truth behind candidates, then
they should start by playing catch-up and begin vetting the incumbent,
which they should have done 4 years ago. When this sketchy, radical,
race-baiting, mudslinging embodiment of dirty Chicago politics finally
comes clean, then we can have a discussion about the ins and outs
of Romney’s taxes. Until that day, however, those in glass houses
should not throw stones.]
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bg commented:
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April 11, 2012
Nearly 50 NASA Scientists and Astronauts Issue
Letter Rejecting NASA’s Stance on Global Warming
[Given that the UN’s Agenda 21 has the goal of essentially reducing
global standards of living in order to prevent manmade climate change,
the warning by these NASA scientists over unsettled science should give
everyone pause. The Climategate emails revealed that the computer
models used by the CRU, NASA and other institutions which support the
reduction of living standards to abate global warming, are based in large
part on proxy data which has been manipulated to support the theory of
manmade global warming in a very unscrupulous manner by the
scientists involved.]
more links @ link..
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