NASA launches largest-ever Mars rover

Original Post

Jire

Nov 26, 2011

Jire

NON-EXISTING!

Join Date: Mar 2011

Nov 26, 2011

NASA launches largest-ever Mars rover

NASA launches largest-ever Mars rover

^Click it.

Personally I'm very riveted by news such as this. We are all so dependent on the progress of science yet so few seem to be aware of the newest achievements in planetary exploration, which could one day save the human race. It is inevitable that either sooner (meteors, supernovas, hypernovas and other threats from outer space) or later (the death of our sun) we will have to spread out to the vastness of space, one way or another. That is, if the human race won't destroy itself before that- but, I'm a believer. I present the article here in its full length for the easiness of commenting on it while being on the forums.

Clickity click

] Mitchell Landsberg, Los Angeles Times November 26, 2011, 8:57 a.m.

With the roar of an Atlas 5 engine, NASA began its boldest venture yet to another planet, sending its Mars Science Laboratory on an eight-month journey that is expected to provide Earth with new and more detailed information about whether the red planet is -- or ever has been -- hospitable to life.

After being postponed by one day to replace a faulty battery, the launch went off flawlessly at 7:02 a.m. PST Saturday, the rocket rising on a column of white smoke into a blue sky mottled with puffy cumulous clouds.

"Whew! That felt so good," exulted Joy Crisp, a deputy project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in La-Canada Flintridge. "That was spectacular!"

The rocket's payload was the rover Curiosity, the largest and most sophisticated in a series of robotic vehicles that NASA has landed on Mars. Built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Curiosity is a six-wheeled, one-ton, car-sized vehicle crammed full of sophisticated scientific gadgets.

Its mission, NASA officials stressed, is not to find life on Mars, but to find out whether life could have existed on Mars in the form of microbes, tiny organisms that are abundant on Earth. It also will try to find further evidence to suggest whether astronauts could survive on Mars.

"I like to say it's extraterrestrial real estate appraisal," said Pan Conrad, a JPL astrobiologist, at a prelaunch briefing earlier in the week.

Within hours of takeoff, control of the spaceship was shifting from the Kennedy Space Center to JPL, which will run the mission for its duration, which is expected to be a minimum of two years.

The Mars Science Lab faced a journey of 354 million miles, which it expects to end in spectacular fashion in early August. Because of the size of the rover, NASA decided that its previous technique, in which the vehicles were bounced onto the surface of the planet on air bags, would not work.

So Curiosity, after being slowed in its descent by parachutes, will be lowered softly NASA hopes using a sky crane modeled after those used by helicopters.

Once on the ground, NASA intends for the rover to spend one Martian year, which is about two Earth years, exploring an area called Gale Crater, which includes a gently sloped, three-mile-high mountain made of sedimentary rock. As with prior missions, there is the likelihood that the rover will keep going after its two-year "warranty" expires.

Scientists hope that as the rover ascends the mountain, the rock will tell the geologic history of the area, and ideally suggest whether it could have supported life.

"We're basically reading the history of Mars' environmental evolution," said John Grotzinger, the project's chief scientist. However, he has been at pains to tamp down expectations.

To sustain life, scientists say, a planet needs three elements: water, energy and carbon. The first two have been established as existing on Mars, but previous missions have not allowed scientists to determine whether there is carbon.

"We're on the hot seat, and a wise friend of mine once told me, 'don't promise more than you can deliver,' " Grotzinger said. "So we're on a mission to look for organic carbon, there's no question about it."

But he downplayed the odds of success. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and the haystack's as big as a football field."

The Mars Science Lab is the latest in a long series of U.S. missions to Mars, dating to 1964, when Mariner 4 flew by the planet and returned 21 photos to Earth. More recently, the Pathfinder, Exploration and Opportunity missions landed robotic rovers that have sent back dramatic ground-level photos and other data about the planet, which is considered the most likely planet other than Earth to have nurtured life.

By "life," however, scientists stress that they are considering the most primitive forms, and don't expect Curiosity to be met by an ambassador.

At the same time, said Steven Benner, a biochemist who heads the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, "We don't want to have a lot of preconceptions. We want to consider that if, you know, Tim Allen's "Galaxy Quest" alien rock creature comes up and bangs us on the head, we don't want to ignore it. That would be the 'Ah ha!' moment that we would regret having missed. But that's relatively far down in our what-if scenarios."

Copyright Љ 2011, Los Angeles Times

Outline/TL;DR

On last Saturday, NASA sent its Mars Science Laboratory on an eight-month journey (the rocket) planned to provide us information on did, or is, Mars capable of giving birth to life in the form of microbes, tiny organisms that are abundant on Earth. It also aims to investigate the chances of astronauts surviving on Mars in the future flights.

To sustain life, scientists say, a planet needs three elements: water, energy and carbon. We are not sure about the existence of the third element on the planet. "So we're on a mission to look for organic carbon, there's no question about it." ~Grotzinger.

The mission on Mars (the exploring device, not the rocket) is going to last for one Martian year, that is, approximately two Earth years.

Last edited by Jire; Nov 26, 2011 at 07:13 PM.

Tessh

Nov 26, 2011

Tessh

Forumite

Join Date: Dec 2010

Nov 26, 2011

Amazing!
but they will do some "secret stuff" too, belive me.

System Of a Down [Extreme]|LOP|RSO|MoA Dontclickhere!

Jire

Nov 26, 2011

Jire

NON-EXISTING!

Join Date: Mar 2011

Nov 26, 2011

Posidengod: Well only a few paragraphs were my own text, and rest was copied from the article, so not very long haha. Any other thoughts on the news themselves?

Tessh: I'd like to believe that they had already secretly found some things they are keeping a secret from us, but I think they are sharing with us everything they get to know of the planet : ]

Tessh

Nov 26, 2011

Tessh

Forumite

Join Date: Dec 2010

Nov 26, 2011

Jire: Maybe, but they may have some "Top secret" project or something like that, but there is nothing we can do about it.

System Of a Down [Extreme]|LOP|RSO|MoA Dontclickhere!

Golfball

Nov 26, 2011

Golfball

Raconteur

Join Date: Apr 2010

Nov 26, 2011

this is amazing what NASA can do
Lets wish them good luck in finding sources of life

Last edited by Golfball; Nov 26, 2011 at 11:13 PM.

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Madness

Tessh

Nov 26, 2011

Tessh

Forumite

Join Date: Dec 2010

Nov 26, 2011

They are trying to find life. read.

System Of a Down [Extreme]|LOP|RSO|MoA Dontclickhere!

Jire

Nov 26, 2011

Jire

NON-EXISTING!

Join Date: Mar 2011

Nov 26, 2011

I have high doubts on that they would be having a top secret project up there, although it is possible, as anything is in the vastness of probabilities. However, I think you've just watched too many Hollywood movies, unless you can back up your arguments somehow.

Furthermore, they are trying to find a) traces of life having had existed on Mars once b) traces of Mars having been suitable for life earlier c) Mars being suitable for living right now (finding carbon) and/or d) investigating if astronauts could survive on Mars.

Praeter

Nov 26, 2011

Praeter

Chatterbox

Join Date: Feb 2009

Nov 26, 2011

Originally Posted by Tessh

They are trying to find life. read.

And he's saying that he hopes they do find life, you moron.

I find it really interesting, it's quite exciting. Who knows what would happen if they did find life on Mars.

Tint is sex.

Jire

Nov 26, 2011

Jire

NON-EXISTING!

Join Date: Mar 2011

Nov 26, 2011

I don't wish this to turn into an offensive argument. Praeter, at first Golfball's post was something like the following: "I hope they do find something" which to Tessh was a sign of not having read the article. However, followed by 7 minutes Golfball edited his post to what it is now, followed by your post.

Now shall we concentrate on the article?

Random fact: There is currently a calculated 0.1% chance that an asteroid will hit the earth in about 100 years which could have sever consequences (I don't remember the source, sorry guys. Feel free to prove me wrong but this is what I remember). I'm not trying to turn the discussion to concentrate on what I said though.

We are spending tens of millions into missions such as this. Do you guys feel it is necessary at this stage, if so, why?

Edit:

Originally Posted by TheFirstManceR

I'm pro-nasa.
But it would be really cool if there would be a way to accelerate tree growth and dimensions, plus interior geometry, so we could live in HUGE tree houses. Dude.. Wtf DD
And add thrusters to earth, make it a huge space ship. I see no sense in this. The energy needed for a thrust to reach nearby planets would be far beyond what we could supply it
Plus the shields required to do so and a way to synthesize sunlight together with fastly renewable power sources. Synthesize how, and fast renewing energy sources such as..?
Because atoms are energy, we could basically create anything with the right technology and a large enough amount of energy that regenerates itself quickly.We can't create _anything_ but anything in the limits of atom properties and our current technology
1. Live in harmony with nature. What?
2. Create an infinite power source. What?
3. Synthesize natural sunlight.What?
4. Add shields and thrusters to planet.Why?
5.
6. Profit ?

JUST SAYIAN.