NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity has its first analysis target, an intriguing rock with a pyramidal shape that is now 8.2 feet (2.5 meter) from its current location. The scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are excited about this and other features discovered by the rover’s cameras. More »
In the 60s and 70s, America spent $109 billion on getting rocks from the Moon back to Earth*. In 2012, America spent a couple billions on moving an Earth’s rock to Mars**. Moving rocks is a lot of fun! More »
Innovation. According to one Mads Thimmer, it’s a word that held a great deal of mystery some 10-plus years ago, but today, “it’s thrown around as a cliché.” When you really get down to it, though, the art of innovating is a hugely delicate and complex one, fraught with frustration and a curious passion for never settling on the here and now. In covering the world of consumer technology, I’ve come to form my own understanding of what innovation is, what it isn’t and how companies are embracing (or outright shunning) the idea. After an evening with the cofounder of Innovation Lab, however, I was rightfully ready to toss my own preconceived notions aside.
Gallery: Innovation Lab in pictures
Filed under: Misc
Dreams, curiosity and a passion for what’s next: picking the brain of Innovation Lab’s Mads Thimmer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
I’ve seen interpolated videos of the historic Mars Curiosity’s landing before, but this one truly left me in awe. It was painstakingly made during a period of four weeks. It’s truly feels like being aboard the ship. More »
One of the most interesting NASA missions to Mars ever conducted saw a giant Rover dubbed Curiosity land on the surface of the red planet not long ago. So far, Curiosity has driven around the landscape a bit and conducted a few minor experiments and tests getting prepared for its main mission. The Curiosity team has been testing the rover’s robotic arm to get ready for the first examination of Martian rock.
The team has been testing the seven-foot long robotic arm and so far has gained the confidence needed in the arm’s ability to precisely maneuver on Mars with the planet’s temperature and gravity conditions. During our tests, Curiosity has remained at a Martian location that it reached during a short drive on September 5. NASA says that this week the Curiosity team will resume driving the rover and will use its cameras to seek out the first rock to touch with instruments on the arm.
The seven-foot-long robotic arm is festooned with scientific measurement instruments and is one of the main tools the robot will use during its mission on Mars. The robotic arm has two scientific instruments attached including the Mars Hand Lens Imager able to take close-up, color images of rocks and other material. The robotic arm also has a tool called the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer.
That spectrometer tool is able to determine the elemental composition of the target rock. Both robotic arm tools have passed preparatory tests. The scientific instruments are mounted on a turret at the end of the robotic arm and can be placed in contact with target rocks. The Curiosity team has also been testing out other instruments on the rover including the adjustable focus MAHLI camera which has been use this week to take images of objects close to the rover and far away. That camera is also helping the scientists to evaluate the robotic arms ability to position its tools and instruments.
Curiosity Rover robotic arm tests are nearly complete is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
You’ve probably taken some pictures of yourself at some point or another, but none of them were on Mars. Yesterday, everybody’s favorite currently-active Mars rover, Curiosity, sent back a self-shot that is literally out of this world. More »
As NASA promised, Curiosity has stopped at the quarter pole toward its first scientific destination to test its robotic arm and attached scientific instruments. After 100 yards of driving, the rover extended its 7-foot limb, and will now spend six to ten days checking its predetermined positions and range of motion. That will ensure the appendage is ready after surviving the chilly vaccuum of space and subsequent setdown, and will let its minders see how it functions in the unfamiliar Martian gravity and temperatures. The JPL scientists in charge of the six-wheeler will also peep the Mars Hand Lens Imager and made-in-Canada Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer to warrant that they’re up for all the geology to come. If all goes well, the rover will start scooping, drilling and analyzing in earnest when it hits Glenelg, then Mount Sharp — so, we’d limber up first before tackling all that, too.
Curiosity rover starts light robotic arm workout in preparation for scientific main event originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
NASA‘s Curiosity rover continues its exploration of Mars and the unfurling of its complex scientific equipment and robotic limbs, with new photos beamed back of the sensor-encrusted tech in action. This photo, and the second version including more of the Martian landscape after the cut, shows Curiosity’s Mastcam – or one of the “eyes,” at least – deployed, as the rover begins a 6-10 day test of the 7-foot limb. Meanwhile, Curiosity’s football-pitch-long trundling so far has been caught on camera by an orbiter above Mars.
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped a color shot of Curiosity’s route so far, shown below, with the rover’s tire tracks clearly visible through the Martian dust. What you can’t see from that distance is the fact that the tires themselves have been leaving Morse code messages along the way.
Although Curiosity was tested no small amount when on Earth, these lengthy trials now that the rover has made it to Mars are essential, NASA says, for its safe use on the new planet. “These activities are important to get a better understanding for how the arm functions after the long cruise to Mars and in the different temperature and gravity of Mars, compared to earlier testing on Earth” Daniel Limonadi, lead systems engineer for Curiosity’s surface sampling and science system at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said of the tests.
“We will be putting the arm through a range of motions and placing it at important ‘teach points’ that were established during Earth testing,” Limonadi explained, “such as the positions for putting sample material into the inlet ports for analytical instruments.”
Once the tests are completed, Curiosity will begin a several week long journey to Glenelg, the location the JPL team has identified as likely to give good results in dust sampling. The rover will use its drill and onboard analysis equipment to gather rock samples and assess their composition.
Curiosity beams back high-res self portraits during 7ft robo-arm testing is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
This is the most expensive penny in the Universe. It’s now on Mars, after an exciting $2.5 billion ride. Previously, the most expensive Lincoln penny in history was a 1943 copper-alloy cent that was sold for $1.7 million in a 1996 auction. That’s peanuts compared to the cost of putting this coin up there, however. More »
Welcome to Thursday everyone. Today Amazon held its highly anticipated Kindle Fire event, marking our third press event in two days. Amazon didn’t disappoint either, announcing a handful of new Kindle Fire tablets and the new Kindle Paperwhite. It was a very exciting event, and you can get a nice little recap of all of the news in our full Amazon Kindle event wrap-up. Be sure to check that out for all of our announcement and hands-on posts from the day.
We didn’t end the hands-on posts with just Amazon, however, as we also delivered hands-on “extended cuts” for both the Nokia Lumia 920 and the more budget-friendly Lumia 820, which were both announced yesterday. With these new Lumias revealed, Nokia cut the price on the existing Lumia line while reports said that the production of these new Lumia phones is being done in-house. The company also said that its OIS ad for the Lumia 920 was faked, and we tell you how you can watch Nokia’s reveal of the 920 and 820 all over again.
Facebook’s $1 billion purchase of Instagram has been finalized, and it seems that the launch of the iPhone 5 will mark the death of the iPhone 3GS. The iPhone has retained its customer satisfaction crown – even gaining a little bit on last year’s survey results – and bad news for Samsung today, as the company is now under an antitrust investigation in South Korea after Apple filed a 3G complaint against it.
Tumblr has been tweaked on iOS and Android, Samsung’s Galaxy S III handset has hit 20 million sales worldwide, and it seems that Apple TV talks have stalled. Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy S Relay at T-Mobile in the next few weeks, and MaxTV has a new soundbar on the scene that’s promising some big sound. Western Digital has introduced a new line of external storage solutions for Mac and PC users, and Kobo has launched a new line of eReaders. While Google was announcing that Ice Cream Sandwich is now installed on a fifth of all Android devices, ASUS was busy announcing its new “Powered by ASUS” program for custom PCs.
We had quite a bit of space-related news today, with the Mars Curiosity rover beginning to analyze the air around it to search for signs of methane. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have performed a second space walk to make repairs to the ISS, and finally tonight, NASA’s Dawn probe has left the asteroid named Vesta, where it has resided for the past 13 months.
That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up. Now all you need to do is go out and enjoy the rest of your evening!
SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: September 6, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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