The Curiosity rover / Mars Science Laboratory has landed safely on Mars and is returning data! So now we have two rovers on Mars again, Opportunity and a new one of unprecendented size and instrument sophistication. Curiosity has a laser gun that allows it to measure emission spectra at a distance, an instrument that allows it to identify minerals directly without inference via their elemental composition, and more. Looking forward to new discoveries!
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Here's the last few news reports:
August 21: NASA's Curiosity Studies Mars Surroundings, Nears Drive
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been investigating the Martian weather around it and the soil beneath it, as its controllers prepare for the car-size vehicle's first drive on Mars.
The rover's…
Remember Rover? Rover is still finding stuff, and this latest find is strange, enigmatic, interesting, and worthy of further investigation. So far there is only a press release from NASA, here:
NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Reveals Geological Mystery
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's long-lived rover…
We're getting closer to the Impossible Landing that NASA is going to attempt on Mars, and the space agency has sent out a new press release.
The area where NASA's Curiosity rover will land on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT) has a geological diversity that scientists are eager to investigate, as seen in…
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's long-lived Mars Odyssey spacecraft has completed an eight-month adjustment of its orbit, positioning itself to look down at the day side of the planet in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon.
This change gains sensitivity for infrared mapping of Martian minerals by…
I'm not a scientist but what a great day to be a human being! Kudos to the men and women who got that great beast to the surface of a planet 156,000,000 miles from earth! I think that math is right. 186,000*60*14. Whatever...an incredible achievement!
What the first Curiosity image really showed http://poof.hksr.us/iiouwrhx
Robots, archaeology and barren worlds:
Drones map ancient Peruvian ruins http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2012/08/drones-map-ancient…
Two separate extinctions brought end to dinosaur era http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22137-two-separate-extinctions-br…