RisingFury
OBSP developer
Curiosity is cleaner than the plates you eat off...
Updates Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)
- Thread starter Unstung
- Start date
Curiosity is cleaner than the plates you eat off...
Unstung
Active member
My plates aren't drill bits that will be used on an expensive Mars rover. To be specific, I wonder if it could contaminate the data gathered by the Sample analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.
dgatsoulis
ele2png user
What sets Curiosity apart from other Mars Rovers?
llarian
Well-known member
Mass, size, power source, sophistication of instrumentation, depth of probe, ... Take a look at the mission synopsis.
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
NASA Mars-Bound Rover Begins Research in Space
December 13, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet.
Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mars Science Laboratory. The rover carries an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources.
These particles constitute radiation that could be harmful to any microbes or astronauts in space or on Mars. The rover also will monitor radiation on the surface of Mars after its August 2012 landing.
"RAD is serving as a proxy for an astronaut inside a spacecraft on the way to Mars," said Don Hassler, RAD's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The instrument is deep inside the spacecraft, the way an astronaut would be. Understanding the effects of the spacecraft on the radiation field will be valuable in designing craft for astronauts to travel to Mars."
Previous monitoring of energetic-particle radiation in space has used instruments at or near the surface of various spacecraft. The RAD instrument is on the rover inside the spacecraft and shielded by other components of Mars Science Laboratory, including the aeroshell that will protect the rover during descent through the upper atmosphere of Mars.
Spacecraft structures, while providing shielding, also can contribute to secondary particles generated when high-energy particles strike the spacecraft. In some circumstances, secondary particles could be more hazardous than primary ones.
These first measurements mark the start of the science return from a mission that will use 10 instruments on Curiosity to assess whether Mars' Gale Crater could be or has been favorable for microbial life.
"While Curiosity will not look for signs of life on Mars, what it might find could be a game-changer about the origin and evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "One thing is certain: The rover's discoveries will provide critical data that will impact human and robotic planning and research for decades."
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Dec. 14, the spacecraft will have traveled 31.9 million miles (51.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. The first trajectory correction maneuver during the trip is being planned for mid-January.
{...}
NASA Press Release: RELEASE : 11-414 - NASA Mars-Bound Rover Begins Research in Space
Spaceflight Now: Mars-bound rover previewing the experience for astronauts
Discovery News: Mars Rover Curiosity Begins Space Radiation Work
NASA Mars-Bound Rover Begins Research in Space
December 13, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's car-sized Curiosity rover has begun monitoring space radiation during its 8-month trip from Earth to Mars. The research will aid in planning for future human missions to the Red Planet.
Curiosity launched on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Mars Science Laboratory. The rover carries an instrument called the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) that monitors high-energy atomic and subatomic particles from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources.
These particles constitute radiation that could be harmful to any microbes or astronauts in space or on Mars. The rover also will monitor radiation on the surface of Mars after its August 2012 landing.
"RAD is serving as a proxy for an astronaut inside a spacecraft on the way to Mars," said Don Hassler, RAD's principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. "The instrument is deep inside the spacecraft, the way an astronaut would be. Understanding the effects of the spacecraft on the radiation field will be valuable in designing craft for astronauts to travel to Mars."
Click on image for details
This is an artist's concept of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during its cruise phase between launch and final approach to Mars. The spacecraft includes a disc-shaped cruise stage (on the left) attached to the aeroshell. The spacecraft's rover (Curiosity) and descent stage are tucked inside the aeroshell.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Previous monitoring of energetic-particle radiation in space has used instruments at or near the surface of various spacecraft. The RAD instrument is on the rover inside the spacecraft and shielded by other components of Mars Science Laboratory, including the aeroshell that will protect the rover during descent through the upper atmosphere of Mars.
Spacecraft structures, while providing shielding, also can contribute to secondary particles generated when high-energy particles strike the spacecraft. In some circumstances, secondary particles could be more hazardous than primary ones.
These first measurements mark the start of the science return from a mission that will use 10 instruments on Curiosity to assess whether Mars' Gale Crater could be or has been favorable for microbial life.
"While Curiosity will not look for signs of life on Mars, what it might find could be a game-changer about the origin and evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "One thing is certain: The rover's discoveries will provide critical data that will impact human and robotic planning and research for decades."
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Dec. 14, the spacecraft will have traveled 31.9 million miles (51.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. The first trajectory correction maneuver during the trip is being planned for mid-January.
{...}
NASA Press Release: RELEASE : 11-414 - NASA Mars-Bound Rover Begins Research in Space
Spaceflight Now: Mars-bound rover previewing the experience for astronauts
Discovery News: Mars Rover Curiosity Begins Space Radiation Work
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
Trajectory Maneuver Slated for Jan. 11
January 06, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report
PASADENA, Calif. -- An engine firing on Jan. 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars.
The action will use a choreographed sequence of firings of eight thruster engines during a period of about 175 minutes beginning at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST or 2300 Universal Time). It will redirect the spacecraft more precisely toward Mars to land at Gale Crater. The trajectory resulting from the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch intentionally misses Mars to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting the planet. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.
The maneuver is designed to impart a velocity change of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second).
"We are well into cruise operations, with a well-behaved spacecraft safely on its way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Mission Manager Arthur Amador, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After this trajectory correction maneuver, we expect to be very close to where we ultimately need to be for our entry point at the top of the Martian atmosphere."
The mission's schedule before arrival at Mars on Aug. 5 in PDT (Aug. 6 in Universal Time and EDT) includes opportunities for five more flight path correction maneuvers, as needed, for fine tuning.
The Jan. 11 maneuver has been planned to use the spacecraft's inertial measurement unit to measure the spacecraft's orientation and acceleration during the maneuver. A calibration maneuver using the gyroscope-containing inertial measurement unit was completed successfully on Dec. 21. The inertial measurement unit is used as an alternative to the spacecraft's onboard celestial navigation system due to an earlier computer reset.
Diagnostic work continues in response to the reset triggered by use of star-identifying software on the spacecraft on Nov. 29. In tests at JPL, that behavior has been reproduced a few times out of thousands of test runs on a duplicate of the spacecraft's computer, but no resets were triggered during similar testing on another duplicate. The spacecraft itself has redundant main computers. While the spacecraft is operating on the "A side" computer, engineers are beginning test runs of the star-identifying software on the redundant "B side" computer to check whether it is susceptible to the same reset behavior.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
On Jan. 15, the spacecraft operations team will begin a set of engineering checkouts. The testing will last about a week and include tests of several components of the system for landing the rover on Mars and for the rover's communication with Mars orbiters.
The spacecraft's cruise-stage solar array is producing 780 watts. The telecommunications rate is 2 kilobits per second for uplink and downlink. The spacecraft is spinning at 2.04 rotations per minute. The Radiation Assessment Detector, one of 10 science instruments on the rover, is collecting science data about the interplanetary radiation environment.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST, or 1700 Universal Time) on Saturday, Jan. 7, the spacecraft will have traveled 72.9 million miles (117.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 9,500 mph (15,200 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at about 69,500 mph (111,800 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
Trajectory Maneuver Slated for Jan. 11
January 06, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report
PASADENA, Calif. -- An engine firing on Jan. 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars.
The action will use a choreographed sequence of firings of eight thruster engines during a period of about 175 minutes beginning at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST or 2300 Universal Time). It will redirect the spacecraft more precisely toward Mars to land at Gale Crater. The trajectory resulting from the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch intentionally misses Mars to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting the planet. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.
The maneuver is designed to impart a velocity change of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second).
"We are well into cruise operations, with a well-behaved spacecraft safely on its way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Mission Manager Arthur Amador, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After this trajectory correction maneuver, we expect to be very close to where we ultimately need to be for our entry point at the top of the Martian atmosphere."
The mission's schedule before arrival at Mars on Aug. 5 in PDT (Aug. 6 in Universal Time and EDT) includes opportunities for five more flight path correction maneuvers, as needed, for fine tuning.
The Jan. 11 maneuver has been planned to use the spacecraft's inertial measurement unit to measure the spacecraft's orientation and acceleration during the maneuver. A calibration maneuver using the gyroscope-containing inertial measurement unit was completed successfully on Dec. 21. The inertial measurement unit is used as an alternative to the spacecraft's onboard celestial navigation system due to an earlier computer reset.
Diagnostic work continues in response to the reset triggered by use of star-identifying software on the spacecraft on Nov. 29. In tests at JPL, that behavior has been reproduced a few times out of thousands of test runs on a duplicate of the spacecraft's computer, but no resets were triggered during similar testing on another duplicate. The spacecraft itself has redundant main computers. While the spacecraft is operating on the "A side" computer, engineers are beginning test runs of the star-identifying software on the redundant "B side" computer to check whether it is susceptible to the same reset behavior.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
On Jan. 15, the spacecraft operations team will begin a set of engineering checkouts. The testing will last about a week and include tests of several components of the system for landing the rover on Mars and for the rover's communication with Mars orbiters.
The spacecraft's cruise-stage solar array is producing 780 watts. The telecommunications rate is 2 kilobits per second for uplink and downlink. The spacecraft is spinning at 2.04 rotations per minute. The Radiation Assessment Detector, one of 10 science instruments on the rover, is collecting science data about the interplanetary radiation environment.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST, or 1700 Universal Time) on Saturday, Jan. 7, the spacecraft will have traveled 72.9 million miles (117.3 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 9,500 mph (15,200 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at about 69,500 mph (111,800 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
Spacecraft Completes Biggest Maneuver
January 11, 2012
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft successfully refined its flight path Wednesday with the biggest maneuver planned for the mission's journey between Earth and Mars.
"We've completed a big step toward our encounter with Mars," said Brian Portock of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., deputy mission manager for the cruise phase of the mission. "The telemetry from the spacecraft and the Doppler data show that the maneuver was completed as planned."
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
Engineers had planned today's three-hour series of thruster-engine firings to accomplish two aims: to put the spacecraft's trajectory about 25,000 miles (about 40,000 kilometers) closer to encountering Mars and to advance the time of the encounter by about 14 hours, compared with the trajectory following the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch.
"The timing of the encounter is important for arriving at Mars just when the planet's rotation puts Gale Crater in the right place," said JPL's Tomas Martin-Mur, chief navigator for the mission.
The mission's second trajectory correction maneuver, expected to be about one-sixth the magnitude of this first one, is scheduled for March 26. Up to four additional opportunities for fine-tuning, as needed, are scheduled before the arrival at Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time).
The spacecraft's initial trajectory resulting from the launch included an intentional offset to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting Mars. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft rotates in flight at about two revolutions per minute. Today's maneuver included two different components: one that changed velocity in the direction of the axis of the spacecraft's rotation, and one that changed velocity in a direction perpendicular to that.
The maneuver used the eight thruster engines on the cruise stage of the spacecraft, grouped into two sets of four. It began with a thrust lasting about 19 minutes, using just one thruster in each set and affecting velocity along the direction of the axis of rotation. Then, to affect velocity perpendicular to that line, each set of thrusters was fired for 5 seconds when the rotation put that set facing the proper direction. These 5-second bursts were repeated more than 200 times during a period of about two hours for a total of about 40 minutes.
The maneuver was calculated to produce a net change in velocity of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second), combining a slight increase in speed with a small change in direction of travel.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Thursday, Jan. 12, the spacecraft will have traveled 81.2 million miles (130.6 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 10,300 mph (16,600 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth, and at about 68,700 mph (110,500 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA Tweaks Curiosity's Course To Mars
SPACE.com: Huge NASA Rover Adjusts Course on Trip to Mars
Spaceflight Now: Mars Science Lab tweaks flight path and timing
Universe Today: Crucial Rocket Firing Puts Curiosity on Course for Martian Crater Touchdown
Spacecraft Completes Biggest Maneuver
January 11, 2012
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft successfully refined its flight path Wednesday with the biggest maneuver planned for the mission's journey between Earth and Mars.
"We've completed a big step toward our encounter with Mars," said Brian Portock of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., deputy mission manager for the cruise phase of the mission. "The telemetry from the spacecraft and the Doppler data show that the maneuver was completed as planned."
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed.
Engineers had planned today's three-hour series of thruster-engine firings to accomplish two aims: to put the spacecraft's trajectory about 25,000 miles (about 40,000 kilometers) closer to encountering Mars and to advance the time of the encounter by about 14 hours, compared with the trajectory following the mission's Nov. 26, 2011, launch.
"The timing of the encounter is important for arriving at Mars just when the planet's rotation puts Gale Crater in the right place," said JPL's Tomas Martin-Mur, chief navigator for the mission.
The mission's second trajectory correction maneuver, expected to be about one-sixth the magnitude of this first one, is scheduled for March 26. Up to four additional opportunities for fine-tuning, as needed, are scheduled before the arrival at Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (Aug. 6, EDT and Universal Time).
The spacecraft's initial trajectory resulting from the launch included an intentional offset to prevent the upper stage of the launch vehicle from hitting Mars. That upper stage was not cleaned the way the spacecraft itself was to protect Mars from Earth's microbes.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft rotates in flight at about two revolutions per minute. Today's maneuver included two different components: one that changed velocity in the direction of the axis of the spacecraft's rotation, and one that changed velocity in a direction perpendicular to that.
The maneuver used the eight thruster engines on the cruise stage of the spacecraft, grouped into two sets of four. It began with a thrust lasting about 19 minutes, using just one thruster in each set and affecting velocity along the direction of the axis of rotation. Then, to affect velocity perpendicular to that line, each set of thrusters was fired for 5 seconds when the rotation put that set facing the proper direction. These 5-second bursts were repeated more than 200 times during a period of about two hours for a total of about 40 minutes.
The maneuver was calculated to produce a net change in velocity of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second), combining a slight increase in speed with a small change in direction of travel.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) on Thursday, Jan. 12, the spacecraft will have traveled 81.2 million miles (130.6 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 10,300 mph (16,600 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth, and at about 68,700 mph (110,500 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA Tweaks Curiosity's Course To Mars
SPACE.com: Huge NASA Rover Adjusts Course on Trip to Mars
Spaceflight Now: Mars Science Lab tweaks flight path and timing
Universe Today: Crucial Rocket Firing Puts Curiosity on Course for Martian Crater Touchdown
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
Mars - Bound Instrument Detects Solar Burst's Effects
January 27, 2012
The largest solar particle event since 2005 has been detected by the radiation- monitoring instrument aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, on its way from Earth to Mars.
The Radiation Assessment Detector, inside the mission's Curiosity rover tucked inside the spacecraft, is measuring the radiation exposure that could affect a human astronaut on a potential Mars mission. It has measured an increase resulting from a Jan. 22 solar storm observed by other NASA spacecraft. No harmful effects to the Mars Science Laboratory have been detected from this solar event.
For more information about what effects the radiation detector has measured, visit: http://www.swri.org/9what/releases/2012/rad-solarstorm.htm.
{...}
Southwest Research Institute: SwRI-led RAD measures radiation from solar storm
Mars - Bound Instrument Detects Solar Burst's Effects
January 27, 2012
The largest solar particle event since 2005 has been detected by the radiation- monitoring instrument aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, on its way from Earth to Mars.
The Radiation Assessment Detector, inside the mission's Curiosity rover tucked inside the spacecraft, is measuring the radiation exposure that could affect a human astronaut on a potential Mars mission. It has measured an increase resulting from a Jan. 22 solar storm observed by other NASA spacecraft. No harmful effects to the Mars Science Laboratory have been detected from this solar event.
For more information about what effects the radiation detector has measured, visit: http://www.swri.org/9what/releases/2012/rad-solarstorm.htm.
{...}
Southwest Research Institute: SwRI-led RAD measures radiation from solar storm
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
Mars-Bound NASA Rover Carries Coin for Camera Checkup
February 07, 2012
The camera at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has its own calibration target, a smartphone-size plaque that looks like an eye chart supplemented with color chips and an attached penny.
When Curiosity lands on Mars in August, researchers will use this calibration target to test performance of the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. MAHLI's close-up inspections of Martian rocks and soil will show details so tiny, the calibration target includes reference lines finer than a human hair. This camera is not limited to close-ups, though. It can focus on any target from about a finger's-width away to the horizon.
{colsp=3}
|
|
|
|
Curiosity, the rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, also carries four other science cameras and a dozen black-and-white engineering cameras, plus other research instruments. The spacecraft, launched Nov. 26, 2011, will deliver Curiosity to a landing site inside Mars' Gale Crater in August to begin a two-year investigation of whether that area has ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.
The "hand lens" in MAHLI's name refers to field geologists' practice of carrying a hand lens for close inspection of rocks they find. When shooting photos in the field, geologists use various calibration methods.
"When a geologist takes pictures of rock outcrops she is studying, she wants an object of known scale in the photographs," said MAHLI Principal Investigator Ken Edgett, of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. "If it is a whole cliff face, she'll ask a person to stand in the shot. If it is a view from a meter or so away, she might use a rock hammer. If it is a close-up, as the MAHLI can take, she might pull something small out of her pocket. Like a penny."
Edgett bought the special penny that's aboard Curiosity with funds from his own pocket. It is a 1909 "VDB" cent, from the first year Lincoln pennies were minted, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, with the VDB initials of the coin's designer - Victor David Brenner -- on the reverse.
"The penny is on the MAHLI calibration target as a tip of the hat to geologists' informal practice of placing a coin or other object of known scale in their photographs. A more formal practice is to use an object with scale marked in millimeters, centimeters or meters," Edgett said. "Of course, this penny can't be moved around and placed in MAHLI images; it stays affixed to the rover."
The middle of the target offers a marked scale of black bars in a range of labeled sizes. While the scale will not appear in photos MAHLI takes of Martian rocks, knowing the distance from the camera to a rock target will allow scientists to correlate calibration images to each investigation image.
Another part of MAHLI's calibration target displays six patches of pigmented silicone as aids for interpreting color and brightness in images. Five of them -- red, green, blue, 40-percent gray and 60-percent gray -- are spares from targets on NASA Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The sixth, with a fluorescent pigment that glows red when exposed to ultraviolet light, allows checking of an ultraviolet light source on MAHLI. The fluorescent material was donated to the MAHLI team by Spectra Systems, Inc., Providence, R.I.
A stair-stepped area at the bottom of the target, plus the penny, help with three-dimensional calibration using known surface shapes.
Curiosity also carries calibration materials for other science instruments on the rover. "The importance of calibration is to allow data acquired on Mars to be compared reliably to data acquired on Earth," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
The MAHLI calibration target, with its penny and a miniscule cartoon of a character named "Joe the Martian," serves an additional function: public engagement.
"Everyone in the United States can recognize the penny and immediately know how big it is, and can compare that with the rover hardware and Mars materials in the same image," Edgett said. "The public can watch for changes in the penny over the long term on Mars. Will it change color? Will it corrode? Will it get pitted by windblown sand?"
The Joe the Martian character appeared regularly in a children's science periodical, "Red Planet Connection," when Edgett directed the Mars outreach program at Arizona State University, Tempe, in the 1990s. Joe was created earlier, as part of Edgett's schoolwork when he was 9 years old and NASA's Mars Viking missions, launched in 1975, were inspiring him to dream of becoming a Mars researcher.
Edgett said, "The Joe the Martian on Curiosity really is a 'thank you' from the MAHLI team to the folks who have provided us with the opportunity to study Mars, the U.S. taxpayers. He is also there to encourage children around the world to set goals that will help them achieve their dreams in whatever interests they pursue."
{...}
Mars-Bound NASA Rover Carries Coin for Camera Checkup
February 07, 2012
The camera at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has its own calibration target, a smartphone-size plaque that looks like an eye chart supplemented with color chips and an attached penny.
When Curiosity lands on Mars in August, researchers will use this calibration target to test performance of the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. MAHLI's close-up inspections of Martian rocks and soil will show details so tiny, the calibration target includes reference lines finer than a human hair. This camera is not limited to close-ups, though. It can focus on any target from about a finger's-width away to the horizon.
Click on images for details
|
|
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity with an inset of an instrument located at the end of it's robotic arm.
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity with an inset showing calibration targets to be used by a camera at the end of the robotic arm.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
|
Contact Instrument Calibration Targets on Mars Rover Curiosity
Two instruments at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity will use calibration targets attached to a shoulder joint of the arm.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
|
Lincoln Cent on Mars Rover
The Lincoln penny in this photograph is part of a camera calibration target attached to NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, which is on track for a landing on Mars the night of Aug. 5 to Aug. 6, 2012.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
|
|
Full-Scale Image of MAHLI Calibration Target
This image provides a way to have a full-size printout of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
|
Calibration Target as Seen by Mars Hand Lens Imager
During pre-flight testing, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the MAHLI calibration target from a distance of 3.94 inches (10 centimeters) away from the target.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
|
MAHLI Calibration Target in Ultraviolet Light
During pre-flight testing in March 2011, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of the MAHLI calibration target under illumination from MAHLI's two ultraviolet LEDs (light emitting diodes).Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
Curiosity, the rover of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, also carries four other science cameras and a dozen black-and-white engineering cameras, plus other research instruments. The spacecraft, launched Nov. 26, 2011, will deliver Curiosity to a landing site inside Mars' Gale Crater in August to begin a two-year investigation of whether that area has ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.
The "hand lens" in MAHLI's name refers to field geologists' practice of carrying a hand lens for close inspection of rocks they find. When shooting photos in the field, geologists use various calibration methods.
"When a geologist takes pictures of rock outcrops she is studying, she wants an object of known scale in the photographs," said MAHLI Principal Investigator Ken Edgett, of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. "If it is a whole cliff face, she'll ask a person to stand in the shot. If it is a view from a meter or so away, she might use a rock hammer. If it is a close-up, as the MAHLI can take, she might pull something small out of her pocket. Like a penny."
Edgett bought the special penny that's aboard Curiosity with funds from his own pocket. It is a 1909 "VDB" cent, from the first year Lincoln pennies were minted, the centennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, with the VDB initials of the coin's designer - Victor David Brenner -- on the reverse.
"The penny is on the MAHLI calibration target as a tip of the hat to geologists' informal practice of placing a coin or other object of known scale in their photographs. A more formal practice is to use an object with scale marked in millimeters, centimeters or meters," Edgett said. "Of course, this penny can't be moved around and placed in MAHLI images; it stays affixed to the rover."
The middle of the target offers a marked scale of black bars in a range of labeled sizes. While the scale will not appear in photos MAHLI takes of Martian rocks, knowing the distance from the camera to a rock target will allow scientists to correlate calibration images to each investigation image.
Another part of MAHLI's calibration target displays six patches of pigmented silicone as aids for interpreting color and brightness in images. Five of them -- red, green, blue, 40-percent gray and 60-percent gray -- are spares from targets on NASA Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The sixth, with a fluorescent pigment that glows red when exposed to ultraviolet light, allows checking of an ultraviolet light source on MAHLI. The fluorescent material was donated to the MAHLI team by Spectra Systems, Inc., Providence, R.I.
A stair-stepped area at the bottom of the target, plus the penny, help with three-dimensional calibration using known surface shapes.
Curiosity also carries calibration materials for other science instruments on the rover. "The importance of calibration is to allow data acquired on Mars to be compared reliably to data acquired on Earth," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.
The MAHLI calibration target, with its penny and a miniscule cartoon of a character named "Joe the Martian," serves an additional function: public engagement.
"Everyone in the United States can recognize the penny and immediately know how big it is, and can compare that with the rover hardware and Mars materials in the same image," Edgett said. "The public can watch for changes in the penny over the long term on Mars. Will it change color? Will it corrode? Will it get pitted by windblown sand?"
The Joe the Martian character appeared regularly in a children's science periodical, "Red Planet Connection," when Edgett directed the Mars outreach program at Arizona State University, Tempe, in the 1990s. Joe was created earlier, as part of Edgett's schoolwork when he was 9 years old and NASA's Mars Viking missions, launched in 1975, were inspiring him to dream of becoming a Mars researcher.
Edgett said, "The Joe the Martian on Curiosity really is a 'thank you' from the MAHLI team to the folks who have provided us with the opportunity to study Mars, the U.S. taxpayers. He is also there to encourage children around the world to set goals that will help them achieve their dreams in whatever interests they pursue."
{...}
NovaSilisko
The Siliskoiest of Siliskos
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2012
- Messages
- 577
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Abraham, what are you doing on Mars? That is not where presidents go!
EnDSchultz
New member
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2009
- Messages
- 120
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
It's where great presidents go to preside over when they die.
NovaSilisko
The Siliskoiest of Siliskos
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2012
- Messages
- 577
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
Abraham Lincoln: President of Mars!
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA / NASA JPL:
Spacecraft Computer Issue Resolved
February 09, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report
PASADENA, Calif. -- Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.
The fix involves changing how certain unused data-holding locations, called registers, are configured in the memory management of the type of computer chip used on the spacecraft. Billions of runs on a test computer with the modified register configuration yielded no repeat of the reset behavior. The mission team made this software change on the spacecraft's computer last week and confirmed this week that the update is successful.
The reset occurred Nov. 29, 2011, three days after launch, during use of the craft's star scanner. The cause has been identified as a previously unknown design idiosyncrasy in the memory management unit of the Mars Science Laboratory computer processor. In rare sets of circumstances unique to how this mission uses the processor, cache access errors could occur, resulting in instructions not being executed properly. This is what happened on the spacecraft on Nov. 29.
"Good detective work on understanding why the reset occurred has yielded a way to prevent it from occurring again," said Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The successful resolution of this problem was the outcome of productive teamwork by engineers at the computer manufacturer and JPL."
The Mars-bound spacecraft performed a brief alignment activity using its star scanner and sun sensor on Jan. 26. During the alignment observations, the star scanner detected Mars.
"Our target is in view," said JPL's Steve Collins, attitude control subsystem engineer for Mars Science Laboratory's cruise from Earth to Mars.
The spacecraft began normal use of its star tracker and true celestial navigation this week after its software update.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed. Curiosity will land on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, Universal Time and Eastern Daylight Time (evening of Aug. 5, Pacific Daylight Time).
The spacecraft's cruise-stage solar array is producing 704 watts. The telecommunications rates are 1 kilobit per second for uplink and 800 bits per second for downlink. The spacecraft is spinning at 1.97 rotations per minute.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST, or 1700 Universal Time) on Friday, Feb. 10, the spacecraft will have traveled 127 million miles (205 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 17,800 miles per hour (28,600 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at about 63,700 mph (102,500 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
SPACE.com: NASA Fixes Computer Glitch on Mars-Bound Rover
Discovery News: NASA to Mars-Bound Rover: We'll Fix Your Glitch
Spacecraft Computer Issue Resolved
February 09, 2012
Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report
PASADENA, Calif. -- Engineers have found the root cause of a computer reset that occurred two months ago on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and have determined how to correct it.
The fix involves changing how certain unused data-holding locations, called registers, are configured in the memory management of the type of computer chip used on the spacecraft. Billions of runs on a test computer with the modified register configuration yielded no repeat of the reset behavior. The mission team made this software change on the spacecraft's computer last week and confirmed this week that the update is successful.
The reset occurred Nov. 29, 2011, three days after launch, during use of the craft's star scanner. The cause has been identified as a previously unknown design idiosyncrasy in the memory management unit of the Mars Science Laboratory computer processor. In rare sets of circumstances unique to how this mission uses the processor, cache access errors could occur, resulting in instructions not being executed properly. This is what happened on the spacecraft on Nov. 29.
"Good detective work on understanding why the reset occurred has yielded a way to prevent it from occurring again," said Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The successful resolution of this problem was the outcome of productive teamwork by engineers at the computer manufacturer and JPL."
The Mars-bound spacecraft performed a brief alignment activity using its star scanner and sun sensor on Jan. 26. During the alignment observations, the star scanner detected Mars.
"Our target is in view," said JPL's Steve Collins, attitude control subsystem engineer for Mars Science Laboratory's cruise from Earth to Mars.
The spacecraft began normal use of its star tracker and true celestial navigation this week after its software update.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will use its car-size rover, Curiosity, to investigate whether the selected region on Mars inside Gale Crater has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed. Curiosity will land on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, Universal Time and Eastern Daylight Time (evening of Aug. 5, Pacific Daylight Time).
The spacecraft's cruise-stage solar array is producing 704 watts. The telecommunications rates are 1 kilobit per second for uplink and 800 bits per second for downlink. The spacecraft is spinning at 1.97 rotations per minute.
As of 9 a.m. PST (noon EST, or 1700 Universal Time) on Friday, Feb. 10, the spacecraft will have traveled 127 million miles (205 million kilometers) of its 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) flight to Mars. It will be moving at about 17,800 miles per hour (28,600 kilometers per hour) relative to Earth and at about 63,700 mph (102,500 kilometers per hour) relative to the sun.
{...}
SPACE.com: NASA Fixes Computer Glitch on Mars-Bound Rover
Discovery News: NASA to Mars-Bound Rover: We'll Fix Your Glitch
orb
New member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 14,020
- Reaction score
- 4
- Points
- 0
NASA: Curiosity, The Stunt Double:
IronRain
The One and Only (AFAIK)
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 3,484
- Reaction score
- 404
- Points
- 123
- Location
- Utrecht
- Website
- www.spaceflightnewsapi.net
Cruising with Curiosity: Landing Practice
IronRain
The One and Only (AFAIK)
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 3,484
- Reaction score
- 404
- Points
- 123
- Location
- Utrecht
- Website
- www.spaceflightnewsapi.net
NASA probes shifting orbits for Curiosity rover landing
Two NASA spacecraft circling Mars have begun repositioning their orbits to provide engineering insight into the landing of the Curiosity rover on the red planet in August, supplying engineers on Earth with vital data during the robot's dramatic rocket-assisted touchdown.
Engineers are shifting the orbits of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Odyssey probes, ensuring they have line-of-sight communications with Curiosity as it lands at Gale crater, a 96-mile-wide impact site adorned with rugged rock formations and a colossal central peak.
Landing is scheduled for early Aug. 6, U.S. Eastern time.
"Odyssey and MRO have begun positioning their orbits so that they will be overflying [the Mars Science Laboratory] during entry, descent and landing," said Fuk Li, director of Mars exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Without MRO and Odyssey, controllers would lose crucial information on how the $2.5 billion mission performs as it plunges through the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, deploys parachutes, fires a rocket back and lowers the six-wheeled rover to the surface on a bridle.
NASA has never tried such a landing system before, and if it works, it will allow the space agency to place much larger, and heavier, payloads on Mars. Live insight into the landing will yield crucial information on how the system works, and would give NASA reams of data in the event of a mishap or failure.
{more at Spaceflight Now}
Odyssey
MRO
Two NASA spacecraft circling Mars have begun repositioning their orbits to provide engineering insight into the landing of the Curiosity rover on the red planet in August, supplying engineers on Earth with vital data during the robot's dramatic rocket-assisted touchdown.
Engineers are shifting the orbits of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Odyssey probes, ensuring they have line-of-sight communications with Curiosity as it lands at Gale crater, a 96-mile-wide impact site adorned with rugged rock formations and a colossal central peak.
Landing is scheduled for early Aug. 6, U.S. Eastern time.
"Odyssey and MRO have begun positioning their orbits so that they will be overflying [the Mars Science Laboratory] during entry, descent and landing," said Fuk Li, director of Mars exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Without MRO and Odyssey, controllers would lose crucial information on how the $2.5 billion mission performs as it plunges through the Martian atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, deploys parachutes, fires a rocket back and lowers the six-wheeled rover to the surface on a bridle.
NASA has never tried such a landing system before, and if it works, it will allow the space agency to place much larger, and heavier, payloads on Mars. Live insight into the landing will yield crucial information on how the system works, and would give NASA reams of data in the event of a mishap or failure.
{more at Spaceflight Now}
Odyssey
MRO
Similar threads
