Landing Video From Curiosity Rover

Yep, I know, I am a bit fixated with the Curiosity Rover, but in truth, this amazing material keeps coming out and it is just amazing!

The rover it seems had video recorders going during the landing. Here we have a live video from Curiosity as it descended to the Martian surface. It is a short video, but then this all happened VERY fast. So, check it out!

First Color Image from Curiosity's "Hand"

From NASA JPL, Here is the first color pic from Curiosity taken the afternoon of the first day on Mars.

NASA/JPL describe the photo as:

• ... view of the landscape to the north of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired by the Mars Hand Lens Imager....
• In the distance, the image shows the north wall and rim of Gale Crater. The image is murky because the MAHLI’s removable dust cover is apparently coated with dust blown onto the camera during the rover’s terminal descent.

NASA says that this cover will be removed in the coming weeks for clearer shots from the "hand" device.

Here is more about that part of the rover:

• The MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm.

The picture was taken of course with the dust cover on but NASA also reports that:

• the robotic arm was in its stowed position. The main purpose of Curiosity's MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover's Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity. This means it can, as shown here, also obtain pictures of the Martian landscape.

and of course the stowed position explains the odd framing and orientation of the picture.  This of course will change when the arm is moved to an operational position.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Muppet Mars

Could not resist....  Here someone took the time to photoshop in the Muppet spacers....you know the one on the left is saying Rover...the rest can only be imagined...

Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter Catches Curiosity In Mid-Air!

Wow, after the hugely exciting landing Monday morning of the Mars Rover Curiosity and the first three pictures from the lander, I didn't think that could be upstaged even for a second....Well, let me take those words back because according to an NBC.Com photo posted from NASA, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that wowed the crowd this morning with an incredible picture of the rover at the end of its parachute, six minutes into the seven minute landing maneuver, still under the 'chute!

It would seem that this was not all by chance however....again according to the article:

• The orbiter's imaging team had planned the shot for months, and the payoff came when MRO snapped the picture from a distance of 211 miles. (The photo shows) Curiosity was about 2 miles above the Martian surface, still protected inside its Mars Science Laboratory back shell and heat shield.

The timing was so critical that if the photo had been taken one second before or after this one was snapped, there would have been nothing in the frame! Even more surprising is that HiRise controllers had to upload commands to the spacecraft about 72 hours prior to the image being taken!

I can remember the Curiosity controllers describing where the orbiters were in relationship to the rover and that any pictures being taken or data being transferred would have to deal with crafts at high angles and very close to the horizon. In any case, the MRO stands tall even in the big shadow cast by the arrival of Curiosity.

For those that are interested -  the resolution for the photo is a bit over 13 inches per pixel.  (Not bad, I will take that!)

Beam Me Up Episode 325 Now Online

Yep, so what do normal people do when it's hot? Right, so what possesses me to set in a hot studio all afternoon? Yeah, I can't put a finger on it either.

So it's Beam Me Up episode 325. I start out with a read from Kallamis' article wondering if Generation Star Ships are indeed possible. Next, I wanted to get my review of Lockout (a space/prison offering) because it was right there on the blog in front of me.

Then on to our first story! Mark Webb's “Striking Twice” is a bit more than your average version of this story! Plus he managed to do it in Flash Fiction!

Next Earth Sky offers up a couple real good pieces of astro-science this week. The Milkyway is most definitly on a collision course with Andromeda, and the time is at hand...sort of...aaaaaaaand tropical lakes where you will never expect them!

Then it is time for Star Trek Trivia! Two new questions from the Star Trek Trivia tome! NASA has awarded monies to three American companies to develop a man rated space craft that will be able to put American astronauts in space from American soil on craft built in the US of A.

And our last story of the afternoon, part one of All that Touches Air by An Owomoyela read by our august reader Ron Huber.

Enjoy!