Touchdown

[Blxz]

Hot damn! Touched down on Mars like 10 minutes ago. I watched the live NASA broadcast. Got some live images sent through and all safe spot on the landing site. Congrats to team NASA, et al.

[Mattk50]

I was watching too, and i had the simulation open on my other screen. That was tense, good on them for a successful landing

[Blxz]

I was watching too, and i had the simulation open on my other screen. That was tense, good on them for a successful landing

Only a single monitor so had the live feed running on normal small size and then resized my window so it fit on one half while the simulation fit the other half. They did an incredible job alright.

[txfirefighter]

we landed on mars???

[Blxz]

we landed on mars???

Sorry man, we left you behind. Don't be late to the next party.

EDIT: Just to clarify, only another rover. A huge arse rover but still just a rover. No people yet. Don't get too excited.

[Mattk50]

we got a video of the landing itself too, from the rover's perspective

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/ ... eclickthru

[txfirefighter]

oooh. ok. haha.

unless its on nick junior or disney junior, i dont watch it.

[Mattk50]

......

[Dem1]

That was a pretty crazy landing procedure, but every thing seems to have went as planed. now it's time to bring the fight to the martians, they've been sneaking around long enough, evading our wrath. I have read that curiosity was equipped with a laser and it also a back up weapon system that's a pa system with recordings of earths worst pop artist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpSWxby7kQQ

Humans:1 /Martians:0

so, what are they going to do with Opportunity? last I heard it's still going even after 8 years on the red planet.

[txfirefighter]

whats this mission supposed to accomplish? i love the fact that we are landing there and stuff, but im wondering what we want to see this time....

[Dem1]

Taken from the wiki article
" Determine whether Mars could ever have supported life — including the role of water, study the climate and geology of Mars. It is also useful preparation for future missions, perhaps a manned mission to Mars." + more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory

well, Curiosity not only has way more scientific instruments then the previous rovers, but way better instruments in technological terms as well. 8 years in technology terms is a very long time. "Technology doubles every 24 months" so Opportunity's instruments are dinosaur compared to Curiosity's. so we're more then likely going to see way more stuff then the last missions(hopefully anyway)

also earth's becoming way to mainstream..I don't blame people for looking into the next "IN" planet of the future. /hipster

[Blxz]

"Technology doubles every 24 months"

Perhaps you mean computing power doubles? Ie the number of transistors, etc.
I can't really see the 'number of technologies' or the 'power of technologies' doubling every 2 years. Its not really a quantifiable number either.

Also, TXfire, the mission containers a variety of new instruments. It's primary focus is looking for organic compounds. previous rovers have looked for life and the by products of life. This rover is trying to find the organic compounds that would mean life were ever possible in the past. This is thought to be possible in this crater due to it's geographic location as a potential water reservoir in the past.

Furthermore, there are other instruments onboard curiosity that they have never thought to take before. Most interesting is a radiation measurer to measure the intensity and different variations of radiation on the surface. The potential in this is that it gives us information on what kinds of protections humans would need if they were to ever land on the planet.

My little expectation....probably pretty high radiation. Mars is not known to have a magnetic field or much atmosphere so there is very little to stop any direct solar radiation. It would of course be weaker since the planet is further away from the sun and the light is therefore less concentrated but I imagine it would still be in the EXTREME levels. You wouldn't want to walk around in just a regular spacesuit I don't think.

[txfirefighter]

sweet! mars colony

i keep thinking of arnold's eyes popping out of his head.