Hasta La Gadget!

As the vista on Mars gradually gets ever clearer, and the system checks continue to show that the rover is in good stead, the team behind Curiosity will be increasingly eager to stretch its legs wheels. The first trip might be just a cautious few meters, but plans for a more adventurous jaunt have just been revealed. The first location in Curiosity’s sights is an area referred to as Glenelg, which, based on initial pictures, offers three different geological characteristics, as well as potentially being an area where water used to be present. The site is only 1,300 feet (400 meters) from where the rover landed, but it could still take several weeks to get there. This is merely a quick dash compared to the next leg of its journey, which sees Curiosity heading out to an area called Mount Sharp — a large mound of layered rock which is hoped to contain visible geology potentially dating back millions of years. With seven kilometers (4.4 miles) lying between the rover and the mountain’s foothills, it’ll be a much longer journey, but one that could provide the first real evidence of the planet’s ability to host, or have hosted, life.

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NASA maps out proposed travel plans for Curiosity, decides to head for the hills originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Aug 2012 09:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA is busy planning missions for its Curiosity Rover vehicle which is currently on Mars. Because the robot is millions of miles away, it can take anywhere from 3mn to 30mn for a radio signal to go from Earth to Mars – this depends on the position of both planets on their respective orbits. This makes it unpractical to “remote control” the robot like you might do on earth, where things can be controlled in real-time.

To save time, NASA has created a technique where they use the robot’s sensors to retrieve 3D imaging of the its surrounding. From there, they can inspect the potential obstacles and prepare a sequence of motion that will direct the robot to do a particular task ranging from moving around to analyzing stuff on the soil. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Curiosity rover on Mars receives software update, Curiosity makes Mars landing,

Is there life on Mars? NASA’s latest mission to the red planet might well answer that question, or perhaps the more pertinent question, was there life on Mars. At 10:02 AM EST on November 26th last year, the space agency’s Mars Science Laboratory (to give the mission its full name) set off on its eight-month journey to the red planet. The most advanced equipment ever sent to the planet — and the biggest-ever rover — should allow exploration of some of the most interesting regions, over far larger distances than ever previously covered. On arrival, after negotiating a tricky landing, the mobile laboratory (that’s Curiosity) will spend a Martian year (687 Earth days) analyzing rock samples and seeking evidence of conditions suitable for microbial life or — we can live in hope — actual evidence of the same. After the break, we take a look at some of the key events over the first seven days on the planet’s surface.

Continue reading Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity

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Life on Mars: One week of Curiosity originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you want to do what NASA just did, except in Lego form, then look no further. NXT builders Doug Moran and Will Gorman put together this amazing working Curiosity rover that can happily roll around plastic terrains, searching for the answer to Bowie’s questions. Four of the six wheels are powered, enabling the gear to make 360 degree turns, while a fully working arm and mast are controlled separately. Of course, nothing we can say could compare to seeing it in the flesh plastic, so head on past the break to see it in action.

Continue reading Lego Curiosity Mars rover explores barren surface of Kennedy Space Center (video)

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Lego Curiosity Mars rover explores barren surface of Kennedy Space Center (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 07:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You watched the launch, bit your nails over computer simulations and even played the game, and it all comes down to today: NASA’s Curiosity rover is about to land on Mars. The $2.5 billion vehicle has been en route to the red planet for eight months, and in a few short hours will spend seven terrifying minutes blindly making its way to the Martian surface — only to make NASA scientists wait another full seven before reporting on its success or failure. The rover is flying solo.

That doesn’t mean we can’t be there in spirit, however: NASA TV will be broadcasting the event on Ustream, offering commentary from the minds behind the rover, as well as audio from mission control. The Curiosity Cam, which runs from 11:30PM until 2:00AM EDT and 3:30AM to 4:30AM EDT, will offer commentary from the scientists and engineers behind Curiosity, while a second feed (at NASA JPL Live, which runs from 11:30PM onward) will play audio from mission control. If all goes to plan, NASA will be able to share an image from Curiosity’s navigation cameras, confirming its safe arrival on the Martian surface. Sounds like a hell of a show to us.

Read on to view the Curiosity Cam right here or check out the source links below to prep your evening (or early morning) viewing for yourself. Let us know your own thoughts on Curiosity’s landing in the comments.

Update: Touchdown confirmed! The entire sequence went perfectly to plan, and rover Curiosity is now on the surface of Mars and sending telemetry data.

Update: NASA’s press conference is now happening live.

Continue reading Watch NASA’s Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, live at 1:30AM EDT

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Watch NASA’s Curiosity rover touch down on Mars, live at 1:30AM EDT originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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