Mars Rover Landing

News Alert

2012-08-06T17:31:32-04:00

Anthony E. Avvenire tweeted: "Check out this screen shot. We did. We did indeed."

Higher Resolution Image Of The Martian Surface From Curiosity

2012-08-06T10:28:35-04:00

Well Said

2012-08-06T02:47:34-04:00

"Thank you NASA JPL. You just showed 99% of the would who may not have known, what is possible." -@todd_roylockerz.com/s/231730355
— Cara Santa Maria (@CaraSantaMaria) August 6, 2012

Hey, Humans!

2012-08-06T02:39:52-04:00

Hey humans. Celebrate Curiosity! twitter.com/TheScienceGuy/…
— Bill Nye (@TheScienceGuy) August 6, 2012

We're Glad This Isn't What Happened

2012-08-06T02:20:04-04:00

BREAKING:HIGH-RES PHOTO FROM CURIOSITY RELEASED twitter.com/Oatmeal/status…
— Matthew Inman (@Oatmeal) August 6, 2012

Planetary Society Celebration

2012-08-06T02:19:13-04:00

Jennifer Vaughn, Planetary Society COO, and Bruce Betts, director of projects for the Planetary Society, are all smiles following the Mars rover landing.

"I would have to say this is the most exciting. It is as if they did it everyday and sharing it with everyone here, it makes me cry! It's really special." -- Vaughn

Uh-oh

2012-08-06T02:17:55-04:00

BREAKING DRUDGE REPORT: OBAMA LAUNCHES UNPROVOKED ATTACK ON MARS...developing...
— Paul Fidalgo (@PaulFidalgo) August 6, 2012

Cara Santa Maria, On Location

2012-08-06T02:11:32-04:00

"It's good. I want to see more. I want to invest more." -@tayzonday #marscuriositylockerz.com/s/231720662
— Cara Santa Maria (@CaraSantaMaria) August 6, 2012

President Obama's Statement

2012-08-06T02:11:27-04:00

Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history. The successful landing of Curiosity – the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet – marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future. It proves that even the longest of odds are no match for our unique blend of ingenuity and determination. Tonight’s success, delivered by NASA, parallels our major steps forward towards a vision for a new partnership with American companies to send American astronauts into space on American spacecraft. That partnership will save taxpayer dollars while allowing NASA to do what it has always done best – push the very boundaries of human knowledge. And tonight’s success reminds us that our preeminence – not just in space, but here on Earth – depends on continuing to invest wisely in the innovation, technology, and basic research that has always made our economy the envy of the world. I congratulate and thank all the men and women of NASA who made this remarkable accomplishment a reality – and I eagerly await what Curiosity has yet to discover.

Second And Third Shots

2012-08-06T02:04:57-04:00

The Shot

2012-08-06T02:01:09-04:00

This was the first picture of the Martian surface transmitted from Curiosity:

They REALLY Nailed It!

2012-08-06T01:56:05-04:00

Listening to the readback of the velocities of landing and remaining fuel reserves shows just how precisely they nailed this landing. It is obvious that they managed every one of these details perfectly. Truly an epic accomplishment. NASA really knows how to do this well. --Richard Garriott

Brian Cox Weighs In

2012-08-06T01:55:20-04:00

Absolutely wonderful. What a year! First the Higgs, now the search for LIfe on Mars begins ! #MSL
— Brian Cox (@ProfBrianCox) August 6, 2012

Bill Nye Explains

2012-08-06T01:47:57-04:00

"They stuck the landing!"

SKYCRANE! SKYCRANE! SKYCRANE!

2012-08-06T01:46:05-04:00

Chants in this bar.

Some Perspective

2012-08-06T01:45:27-04:00

"They just put a one ton truck on a planet 200 million miles away."

Elation In The Control Room

2012-08-06T01:44:03-04:00

First Photos

2012-08-06T01:41:14-04:00

It was very smart of this team to realize the importance of, plan for and accomplish not just the astounding landing, but then immediately send an image back to our immediate needs TV generation. -Richard Garriott

Images

2012-08-06T01:37:48-04:00

Taking pictures beneath the rover to see "see if they landed on a rock or in a ditch," as Kessler puts it. "There is the wheel of the rover safely on the surface of Mars"

History Made

2012-08-06T01:37:22-04:00

This will go down in history as an amazing accomplishment that will greatly affect the future of humanity. This will help rekindle the belief that we can indeed Dare Mighty Things! --Richard Garriott

Ladies and Gentleman, We Have An Image

2012-08-06T01:36:41-04:00

An image from Curiosity appears on the NASA live stream.

Everyone At JPL Dancing

2012-08-06T01:36:27-04:00

we are on the ground we must be it is 10.31 all has been going well at JPL everyone is dancing the whole room of planetfest is loudly cheering Another rover is on Mars We have another success! --Artemis Westerberg

Curiosity Tweets Its Touchdown!

2012-08-06T01:35:50-04:00

I'm safely on the surface of Mars. GALE CRATER I AM IN YOU!!! #MSL
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 6, 2012

Curiosity did it! AMAZING!

2012-08-06T01:35:16-04:00

--Richard Garriott

Touchdown Confirmed

2012-08-06T01:34:04-04:00

Pandemonium at mission control as touchdown confirmation comes in

Nicely done!

2012-08-06T01:33:41-04:00

High fives from mission control.

SUCCESS!

2012-08-06T01:33:08-04:00

Rover has landed successfully.

Waiting For Transmission

2012-08-06T01:32:50-04:00

Sound from JPL is at times hard to understand. Voices are distorted. Loud clapping, we are on target. Parachute deployed. It now only has to slow the hypersonic speed of the spacecraft down. --Artemis Westenberg, president, Explore Mars

Rover Separates, Sky Crane Begins

2012-08-06T01:32:29-04:00

"We've separated from the shell." Sky crane begins work.

Already Happened?

2012-08-06T01:31:28-04:00

They are now flying almost level like a plane at Mach 2. (Don’t forget this has alrady all happened 14 minutes before we know about it.) --Richard Garriott

The Radar Can See The Ground

2012-08-06T01:31:12-04:00

Andrew Kessler notes "This is a really big deal."

Parachute Deploys

2012-08-06T01:29:55-04:00

Mission control claps. Deceleration is working.

All Systems 'Nominal'

2012-08-06T01:29:20-04:00

As these G-Forces increase to 11 and 12 G’s, this is more than any human would want to tolerate. Telemetry is now being relayed by the orbiting spacecraft, so all systems nominal! --Richard Garriott

Odyssey Picks Up Signal

2012-08-06T01:28:04-04:00

Orbiter has detected Curiosity and is picking up data. Mission control clapping, but it's not over.

Go Curiosity!

2012-08-06T01:27:47-04:00

At JPL room all dressed in the blue Curiosity landing shirts goes through the steps is all we see No pictures from Mars yet and that will probably take some hours, if not longer. Curiosity has separated from her spacecraft. She is now cruising through space, making ready for entry in the Martian atmosphere Faces are tense, at JPL, but also here at Planetfest. I can feel myself getting too tense really to type this blog. I keep making typos. 90 seconds from entry, waiting for heartbeat tones. Go Curiosity! --Artemis Westerberg

G-Forces

2012-08-06T01:26:36-04:00

When I was aboard Soyuz I was very surprised to see how quickly “Atmospheric Interface” began. All of a sudden, I saw the plume of plasma out my window, and the vehicle heat shield began to melt quickly thereafter. But I could not FEEL the g-forces for many minutes after that. --Richard Garriott

Started Guided Entry

2012-08-06T01:26:32-04:00

NASA reports that the spacecraft has begun the process of guiding itself into a suitable position for landing. So far, so good.

Entering The Martian Atmosphere!

2012-08-06T01:23:59-04:00

Gravity continues to bend the capsule into a steeper dive, and accelerating it up to 13K MPH, just before it encounters the atmosphere. When it does it will slow down quickly, and thus dive deeper and faster yet, into thicker and thicker atmosphere. This will rapidly take the G-Forces many times greater than we feel here on earth. --Richard Garriott

'Heartbeat Tones'

2012-08-06T01:23:09-04:00

The first beeps are coming in to let us know each step in the Entry, Descent and Landing sequence. First, Curiosity send us the data of the sequence directly, then Earth sinks below the horizon on Mars and the Mars Odyssey satellite takes over. Mars Odyssey will relay the beeps send up from Curiosity immediately to us. And us in this case means the Deep Space Network in Australia. Again halfway around our own planet. At the end of the landing sequence Mars Odyssey looses the direct link to Curiosity as she sinks below the horizon on Mars. --Artemis Westenberg, president, Explore Mars, Inc.

14 Minute Delay On Signal

2012-08-06T01:21:37-04:00

It's almost landed, but we won't know for a bit yet. Andrew Kessler is answering questions. "250 single-point failures" that could happen. If one goes wrong, the mission could go bust.

Telemetry Working!

2012-08-06T01:21:35-04:00

I always find it amazing how all the telemetry works together. As they vented the no longer needed fluids on the cruise stage, they detected the lateral movement of the craft, thus they knew the venting was working as planned. Cruise separation nominal! De-spinning the capsule so they can align the off center mass for proper steering during entry. --Richard Garriott, the sixth 'private astronaut,' who flew privately to the ISS in October 2008. He now sits on the NASA Advisory Council and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Science Blog.

No Second Chances

2012-08-06T01:20:20-04:00

By now a fever is palpable in the room. We are waiting for things to unfold with bated breath. This has to work! No second chances. Friends from the 400 people Austin landing party phone me to will away some waiting time. Too much is going on at both ends of the phoneline as all this waiting time is making us loud and jittery. Not much longer now. Curiosity will touch down on Mars on 10:17 PM, but we on Earth won’t know about it until 14 minutes later, as that is how long it will take before the data reach us here on Earth. I have a hard time visualising this. Ofcourse we are all familiar with the delay in communications between us and a reporter in say Sidney, Australia. And we, at least technically, know that our communications go 36,000 kilometers up and and down to get from us to Australia. But to truly get the time delay of 156,000 kilometers between us and Curiosity at Mars is hard. --Artemis Westenberg, president, Explore Mars

More on Times Square

2012-08-06T01:20:19-04:00

A little group just got half of #TimesSquare chanting, "Science!!!" This is definitely the nerdiest gathering here of all time #MSL
— Craft Lass (@CraftLass) August 6, 2012

Pictures?

2012-08-06T01:19:31-04:00

NASA says "we might even get some pictures." We'll believe it when we see it, but wouldn't that be a treat?

Seven Minutes of Terror

2012-08-06T01:18:46-04:00

The "seven minutes of terror" have begun, according to NASA's live stream. Stay tuned for the grand finale. "Everything is going very well."

Times Square Turnout

2012-08-06T01:17:01-04:00

Huge turnout in Times Square to watch the Mars rover land. twitpic.com/ag1ulr
— Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) August 6, 2012

Numbers Appear

2012-08-06T01:16:49-04:00

The vital stats have just appeared on NASA's live stream. Still good to go.

Martian Gravity Doing Its Thing

2012-08-06T01:13:07-04:00

Two other spacecraft will pass overhead during this landing. They will track and record data of the landing sequence to rebroadcast to earth. So whatever happens, we should be able to get pretty good data to analyze the results in detail. The Cruise stage is about to be jettisoned. This was used to do the course corrections during the 9 month jorney. It will not be needed for the ballistic entry phase about to begin. The Martian Gravity is already accelerating the capsule downward and bending its cours of flight downward towards the ground. --Richard Garriott

Getting Real

2012-08-06T01:13:03-04:00

Things are getting real at @nasajpl mission control now. The adrenaline and cortisol are flowing. #MSL
— Karen James (@kejames) August 6, 2012

22 Minutes To Entry!

2012-08-06T01:04:06-04:00

One of the standard pieces of important logic for any rocket systems, is to have as few configuration changes as necessary. Each change of state is more risky that continuing a working state. The 6 configurations of Entry Decent and Landing are therefore why many people have called this plan crazy! But the teams assure us that this was the least crazy plan, required to land such a huge mass on the surface of Mars. 22 Minutes to entry! --Richard Garriott

An Artist's Interpretation

2012-08-06T01:03:09-04:00

Painter Joy Alissa Day sent us her painting of the rover and sky crane.

'Dare MIghty Things'

2012-08-06T00:58:59-04:00

“Dare Mighty Things” is NASA’s Mantra for this event. This is clearly the case for this event. Curiosity is a massive payload with extraordinary capabilities. It will require an extraordinarily complex and precise sequence of events to get it down in one piece. I am sure that every potentiality has been studied deeply. But Seven Minutes of Terror is a great name, for what we are about to experience. --Richard Garriott, the sixth 'private astronaut,' who flew privately to the ISS in October 2008. He now sits on the NASA Advisory Council and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Science Blog.

Getting Political Already

2012-08-06T00:58:01-04:00

FYI, @nasa did not build the #MarsRover by themselves.Don't try to take credit, @mittromney.#ittakesavillage !
— Jan Stevens (@myredmondonline) August 6, 2012

Updates from JPL

2012-08-06T00:54:56-04:00

JPL live feed is being screened at Planetfest right now. There are about 2,000 people here in the Pasadena Convention Center's auditorium watching the livefeed!

Rolling To Control Landing Point

2012-08-06T00:54:11-04:00

Curiosity will use a slightly off-center, center of gravity to allow it to “spill” the wake of the blast coming across the heat shield favoring one side. Then by rolling the capsule left or right they can “steer” left and right. By pitching forward and back, they can dive shorter or lift to a farther landing point. In this way they can target pretty well, even with a largely ballistic entry capsule. This is very similar to the method the Russian Soyuz deploys with great success. --Richard Garriott, the sixth 'private astronaut,' who flew privately to the ISS in October 2008. He now sits on the NASA Advisory Council and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Science Blog.

Bill Nye with HuffPost Science Associate Editor Jacqueline Howard

2012-08-06T00:50:39-04:00

'Let Her Please Land Safely'

2012-08-06T00:50:21-04:00

The room is really full now at Planetfest, and there is a second room with a feed of what is happening in the main room as the Planetary Society tries to accommodate as many revellers as they can. The corridors of the Convention center are devoid of people, when I step out for a sip of water. Slowly the time counts down on the countdown clock I have pulled up on my tablet. I hope time will be kind to Curiosity over her 98 weeks primary mission (a Martian year) With her power coming from a small nuclear power source (ceramic, no health hazard during launch) she could do 14 years as that is the minimum life time of her power source. It is likely her wheels, robot arm, drill and brush will be worn out before her power runs out. Will Curiosity give us as many extra mission years as the Spirit and Opportunity did? But first let her please land safely. --Artemis Westenberg, president, Explore Mars, Inc.

Bill Nye Q&A, Part Three

2012-08-06T00:46:38-04:00

Huff Post Science: Could this mission really change things? Bill Nye, the 'Science Guy:' “This mission could utterly change the world. I always say well we still drive on the right side of the street. But everybody in the world would think quite differently about his or her place in space. We could change the world for the cost of less than a cup of coffee per taxpayer every 15 years. One cup of coffee every 15 years. And this is the extraordinary value of planetary exploration.”

Bill Nye Q&A, Part Two

2012-08-06T00:39:18-04:00

Huff Post Science: What would be a jaw-dropping discovery that results out of this mission? Bill Nye, the 'Science Guy:' “Drive up the slope where there are sedimentary deposits from the era on Mars where the PH the positive hydrogen protons floating around in the water was about the same as it is here. If we drove up there and found a layer that would be akin to Earth…. We drove up and there’s fossil bacteria. That would be, that’s not just a home run that’s a grand slam! Then you would ask the question, is there some place on mars where there’s liquid water, you’d want to go to one of those places and look for some extraordinary living thing that’s still alive.”

One Very Hot Ride

2012-08-06T00:37:53-04:00

Curiosity will approach Mars at over 13,000 MPH. This is slightly lower than Shuttle/Soyuz reentry on Earth, but it has been approaching mars in a “parallel” closing, versus diving straight in or head on. After jettisoning the cruise stage, it will encounter the thin Martian atmosphere and its heat shields will quickly heat to near the temperature of the surface of the sun. But inside the shell, it will remain comfy, as that heat is dissipated very efficiently as well. I was shock on a Soyuz reentry that outside the window by my shoulder it was hotter than the surface of the sun, yet behind my 3” of glass, it was not warm at all! --Richard Garriott, ISS astronaut

Bill Nye Q&A, Part One

2012-08-06T00:35:36-04:00

Huff Post Science: How would you describe significance of this mission? Bill Nye, the 'Science Guy:' “First of all, there are two questions which trouble all of us. Where did we come from? And are we alone? If you want to answer those two questions—and we all do. Everybody wants to know the answer to those two questions… As soon as you discover that there was a big bang and all this then what was before that? And how did we get here? What’s going on? And the answer to those two questions—scientists and engineers have given deep thought to what we would do next and that’s this rover. That’s the next thing. Mars is the logical place to look for evidence of living things, and it’s the logical place to look for things that are still alive that we can see from here. Mars is very Earth-like from a geological standpoint.”

2012-08-06T00:29:44-04:00

Curiosity is finishing its “Cruise Mode” where it zoomed from Earth to Mars over 9 months. Communications at the speed of light now take 14 minutes to travel each way! It has had to endure temps from -250F to +250F along the way and has had 6 course corrections on its way to reach a moving target. --Richard Garriott, the sixth 'private astronaut,' who flew privately to the ISS in October 2008. He now sits on the NASA Advisory Council and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Science Blog.

Curiosity On Its Own

2012-08-06T00:27:47-04:00

Curiosity now inside the orbit of Demos, and NASA has just turned off the uplink transmitters, so Curiosity is now on its internal programming from here to the service! --Richard Garriott, the sixth 'private astronaut.' He flew privately to the ISS in October 2008. He now sits on the NASA Advisory Council and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post Science Blog.