Author Topic: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread  (Read 1026448 times)

Offline Dalhousie

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1320 on: 03/20/2015 08:04 pm »
Not sure if it is an ongoing issue, Cumberland was one of the first samples analysed.  It's taken this long to release the results, even as an abstract.

But it is good they are showing appropriate caution.  Many people seem to see the presence of organics on Mars (never mind life) as an extraordinary claim, requiring extraordinary evidence.
Apologies in advance for any lack of civility - it's unintended

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1321 on: 03/20/2015 09:10 pm »
Not sure if it is an ongoing issue, Cumberland was one of the first samples analysed.  It's taken this long to release the results, even as an abstract.

But it is good they are showing appropriate caution.  Many people seem to see the presence of organics on Mars (never mind life) as an extraordinary claim, requiring extraordinary evidence.
It feels rather like they are fitting together a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle one painstaking part at a time. What the final picture will be is probably still too early to say.:) But if I was a betting person, which I'm not, I would say there is possible slight growing trend in these results pointing in one direction.

By the way it's funny whenever we get an announcement like this someone online always seems to bring up the 'disputed' Viking experiment results.
« Last Edit: 03/20/2015 09:22 pm by Star One »

Offline hop

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1322 on: 03/24/2015 02:10 am »
Pre-print from the RAD team "Variations of dose rate observed by MSL/RAD in transit to Mars"
 http://arxiv.org/abs/1503.06631

Offline hop

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1323 on: 03/24/2015 07:46 pm »
Suspected nitrate detection in early SAM runs

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4516
Quote
A team using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite aboard NASA's Curiosity rover has made the first detection of nitrogen on the surface of Mars from release during heating of Martian sediments.

The nitrogen was detected in the form of nitric oxide, and could be released from the breakdown of nitrates during heating.

Offline Dalhousie

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1324 on: 03/24/2015 08:10 pm »
The amount detected, ~1000 ppm, is between 10 and twenty times what is found in most natural soils on Earth.  It's one measurement, so whether this is typical or a typical remains to be seen.

Nitrate is sometimes 10-20 this value in some hyper-arid deserts on Earth - Atacama, Namib, etc. Whether the deposition mechanism is the same remains to be seen.
Apologies in advance for any lack of civility - it's unintended

Offline hop

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1325 on: 03/25/2015 12:29 am »
It's one measurement, so whether this is typical or a typical remains to be seen.
According to the press release it was seen in both Rocknest and drilled samples from Yellowknife bay. Rocknest is expected to be fairly representative of global dust, though I'd assume there's some room for local variation.

The paper is "Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars" http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/03/18/1420932112.abstract (paywall)

Offline robertross

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1326 on: 03/28/2015 05:45 pm »
03.27.2015
Scars on Mars from 2012 Rover Landing Fade -- Usually


A series of observations from Mars orbit show how dark blast zones that were created during the August 2012 landing of NASA's Curiosity rover have faded inconsistently.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made the observations on multiple dates from landing to last month. After fading for about two years, the pace of change slowed and some of the scars may have even darkened again.

The images track changes in blast zones at four locations caused by different pieces of Curiosity hardware, such as the heat shield and the descent stage. The four series, each with images from five to seven different dates since landing.


NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, who has used similar blast zones to find fresh meteor impact sites on Mars. "We expected to see them fade as the wind moved the dust around during the months and years after landing, but we've been surprised to see that the rate of change doesn't appear to be consistent."

One purpose for repeated follow-up imaging of Curiosity's landing area has been to check whether scientists could model the fading and predict how long it would take for the scars to disappear. Daubar's work on this aids preparations for NASA's next Mars lander, InSight, on track for launch in March 2016. The InSight mission will deploy a heat probe that will hammer itself a few yards, or meters, deep into the ground to monitor heat coming from the interior of the planet. The brightness of the ground affects temperature below ground, because a dark surface warms in sunshine more than a bright one does.

HiRISE is one of six instruments with which NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying Mars since 2006.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project has been using the Curiosity rover to examine ancient Martian environments favorable for microbial life.

With three active NASA Mars orbiters and two Mars rovers, NASA seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles, geology and biological potential. In parallel on its journey to Mars, NASA is developing the capabilities needed for human missions there.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project, the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the InSight Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter and collaborates with JPL to operate it.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1793

Offline catdlr

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1327 on: 04/02/2015 04:26 pm »
Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline Star One

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Offline robertross

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1329 on: 05/09/2015 12:55 am »
05.08.2015
Quick Detour by NASA Mars Rover Checks Ancient Valley

Fast Facts:
-- Detailed new panoramas show hills near and far along Curiosity's route.
-- Rover inspected a site where a valley was cut into bedrock, then refilled.
-- A site of that type had not been seen previously on Mars.

Researchers slightly detoured NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the mission's planned path in recent days for a closer look at a hillside site where an ancient valley had been carved out and refilled.
The rover made observations and measurements there to address questions about how the channel formed and filled. Then it resumed driving up Mount Sharp, where the mission is studying the rock layers. The layers reveal chapters in how environmental conditions and the potential to support microbial life changed in Mars' early history.

Two new panoramas of stitched-together telephoto images from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) present the increasingly hilly region the rover has been investigating, and more distant portions of Mount Sharp. These large images are online, with pan and zoom controls for exploring them, at:

mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/deepzoom/PIA19397
mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/deepzoom/PIA19398

Curiosity has been exploring on Mars since 2012. It reached the base of Mount Sharp last year after fruitfully investigating outcrops closer to its landing site and then trekking to the mountain. The main mission objective now is to examine successively higher layers of Mount Sharp. Curiosity spent several months examining the lowest levels of the mountain's basal geological unit, the Murray formation, at an outcrop called "Pahrump Hills." Then it set off toward a site called "Logan Pass," where the team anticipates a first chance to place the contact-science instruments at the end of the rover's arm onto a darker geological unit overlying or within the Murray formation.
"In pictures we took on the way from Pahrump Hills toward Logan Pass, some of the geologists on the team noticed a feature that looked like what's called an 'incised valley fill,' which is where a valley has been cut into bedrock and then filled in with other sediment," said Curiosity Project Scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

This unusual geometry of the rock layers was noted on the side of a rise called "Mount Shields," which sits northwest of the planned route to Logan Pass. The team chose in late April to divert the rover to the base of Mount Shields.

"We wanted to investigate what cut into the mudstone bedrock, and what process filled it back in," Vasavada said. "The fill material looks like sand. Was the sand transported by wind or by water? What were the relative times for when the mudstone formed, when the valley was cut into it, when the cut was filled in?

"It's exciting to see this on Mars for the first time," he continued. "Features like this on Earth capture evidence of change. What in the environment changed to go from depositing one kind of sediment, to eroding it away in a valley, to then depositing a different kind of sediment? It's a fascinating puzzle that Mars has left for us."

Scientists are examining the evidence collected at Mount Shields as the rover approaches its next study area, at Logan Pass

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1809

Offline catdlr

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1330 on: 05/11/2015 02:55 am »
Curiosity Rover Report (May 8, 2015): Rover Road Trip

Published on May 8, 2015
Getting a head start on summer, Curiosity is planning a road trip to Logan’s Pass on Mars. Just like Earthlings, the rover relies on a highway map and takes scenic detours along the way.

Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline robertross

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1331 on: 05/12/2015 11:52 pm »
05.09.2015
NASA's Curiosity Rover Views Serene Sundown on Mars

The sun dips to a Martian horizon in a blue-tinged sky in images sent home to Earth this week from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.
A series of images is combined into an animation at:
http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7188

For a single-frame scenic view, see:

http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7189

Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to record the sunset during an evening of skywatching on April 15, 2015.

The imaging was done between dust storms, but some dust remained suspended high in the atmosphere. The sunset observations help researchers assess the vertical distribution of dust in the atmosphere.

"The colors come from the fact that the very fine dust is the right size so that blue light penetrates the atmosphere slightly more efficiently," said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, College Station, the Curiosity science-team member who planned the observations. "When the blue light scatters off the dust, it stays closer to the direction of the sun than light of other colors does. The rest of the sky is yellow to orange, as yellow and red light scatter all over the sky instead of being absorbed or staying close to the sun."

Just as colors are made more dramatic in sunsets on Earth, Martian sunsets make the blue near the sun's part of the sky much more prominent, while normal daylight makes the rusty color of the dust more prominent.

Since its August 2012 landing inside Mars' Gale Crater, Curiosity has been studying the planet's ancient and modern environments.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Curiosity's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1810

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1332 on: 07/07/2015 07:11 pm »
An update on the wheel wear situation and the actions taken to mitigate the issue.

Quote
Curiosity’s two front wheels began accumulating damage early in the mission.That wear and tear continues, and now the rover’s two middle wheels are showing major damage, Erickson said.

But “the rear wheels are still almost pristine,” he said.

To help cope with the wheel situation, Curiosity engineers are looking at software changes on the vehicle, “to try and make things a little bit better,” Erickson said. “They’ve had some good tests, but it’s not ready for prime time yet.”

The software could provide situational awareness to the wheels, Erickson said, matching wheel drive with electrical current, depending on what terrain the rover faces.

There remain uncertainties about how much overall wheel life is left on Curiosity, Erickson said. One helpful remedy is to carefully guide the robot through less-damaging terrain, he said.

- See more at: http://spacenews.com/mars-rover-curiosity-dealing-with-wheel-damage/#sthash.XreQbioI.dpuf

Offline Dalhousie

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Apologies in advance for any lack of civility - it's unintended

Offline catdlr

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1334 on: 08/03/2015 09:51 pm »
Curiosity Rover Report (August 2015): Three Years on Mars!

Published on Aug 3, 2015
After three action-packed years on Mars, the Curiosity rover is ready to take on higher slopes of Mount Sharp.

Tony De La Rosa, ...I'm no Feline Dealer!! I move mountains.  but I'm better known for "I think it's highly sexual." Japanese to English Translation.

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1335 on: 08/04/2015 06:37 am »
Curiosity Discovers Mars Rock Like None Before, Sets Drill Campaign

Quote
On the eve of the 3rd anniversary since her nail biting touchdown inside Gale Crater, NASA’s car sized Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has discovered a new type of Martian rock that’s surprisingly rich in silica – and unlike any other targets found before.

Excited by this new science finding on Mars, Curiosity’s handlers are now gearing the robot up for her next full drill campaign today, July 31 (Sol 1060) into a rock target called “Buckskin” – which lies at the base of Mount Sharp, the huge layered mountain that is the primary science target of this Mars rover mission.

“The team selected the “Buckskin” target to drill,” says Lauren Edgar, Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and an MSL science team member, in a mission update.

“It’s another exciting day on Mars!”

http://www.universetoday.com/121597/curiosity-discovers-mars-rock-like-none-before-sets-drill-campaign/

Offline Dalhousie

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1336 on: 08/04/2015 10:55 am »
Curiosity Discovers Mars Rock Like None Before, Sets Drill Campaign

Quote
On the eve of the 3rd anniversary since her nail biting touchdown inside Gale Crater, NASA’s car sized Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has discovered a new type of Martian rock that’s surprisingly rich in silica – and unlike any other targets found before.

Excited by this new science finding on Mars, Curiosity’s handlers are now gearing the robot up for her next full drill campaign today, July 31 (Sol 1060) into a rock target called “Buckskin” – which lies at the base of Mount Sharp, the huge layered mountain that is the primary science target of this Mars rover mission.

“The team selected the “Buckskin” target to drill,” says Lauren Edgar, Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and an MSL science team member, in a mission update.

“It’s another exciting day on Mars!”

http://www.universetoday.com/121597/curiosity-discovers-mars-rock-like-none-before-sets-drill-campaign/

Sixth hole in three years!  Plus one scoop.  People planning MSR on Curiosity performance please note the implications!
Apologies in advance for any lack of civility - it's unintended

Offline Star One

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1337 on: 08/04/2015 02:23 pm »

Curiosity Discovers Mars Rock Like None Before, Sets Drill Campaign

Quote
On the eve of the 3rd anniversary since her nail biting touchdown inside Gale Crater, NASA’s car sized Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has discovered a new type of Martian rock that’s surprisingly rich in silica – and unlike any other targets found before.

Excited by this new science finding on Mars, Curiosity’s handlers are now gearing the robot up for her next full drill campaign today, July 31 (Sol 1060) into a rock target called “Buckskin” – which lies at the base of Mount Sharp, the huge layered mountain that is the primary science target of this Mars rover mission.

“The team selected the “Buckskin” target to drill,” says Lauren Edgar, Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and an MSL science team member, in a mission update.

“It’s another exciting day on Mars!”

http://www.universetoday.com/121597/curiosity-discovers-mars-rock-like-none-before-sets-drill-campaign/

Sixth hole in three years!  Plus one scoop.  People planning MSR on Curiosity performance please note the implications!

How much lower is the drilling rate than what was expected before launch?

Offline meekGee

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1338 on: 08/07/2015 05:40 pm »
Is the low drill rate a result of a performance issue?

Or is it that they only drill when they feel it is justified?    As a strategy, it makes more sense to save capabilities till later in the mission.
« Last Edit: 08/07/2015 08:24 pm by meekGee »
ABCD - Always Be Counting Down

Offline hop

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Re: LIVE: MSL Curiosity Post Landing SOL 1 onwards Update Thread
« Reply #1339 on: 08/07/2015 08:44 pm »
Is the low drill rate a result of a performance issue?

Or is it that they only drill when they feel it is justified?    As a strategy, it makes more sense to save capabilities till later in the mission.
Operations have clearly been slower than pre-launch estimates. The number of times they can use the drill (in percussion mode at least) is also likely quite limited, see http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2015/04101658-curiosity-update-sols-896-949.html

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