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Mars Base

10 Amazing Things NASA's Huge Mars Rover Can Do | NASA, Mars Science Laboratory & Curio... - 0 views

www.space.com/s-rover-curiosity-science.html

scibyte22 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 20 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Mast Camera (MastCam)
  • capture high-resolution color pictures and video of the Martian landscape, which scientists will study and laypeople will gawk at
  • Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)
  • ...43 more annotations...
  • will function much like a high-powered magnifying glass
  • instrument will take color pictures of features as tiny as 12.5 microns — smaller than the width of a human hair
  • MAHLI sits on the end of Curiosity's five-jointed, 7-foot (2.1-meter) robotic arm
  • Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
  • small camera located on Curiosity's main body, will record video of the rover's descent to the Martian surface
  • will click on a mile or two above the ground, as soon as Curiosity jettisons its heat shield. The instrument will then take video at five frames per second until the rover touches down. The footage will help the MSL team plan Curiosity's Red Planet rovings, and it should also provide information about the geological context of the landing site, the 100-mile-wide
  • Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)
  • makes up about half of the rover's science payload.
  • a suite of three separate instruments — a mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph and a laser spectrometer
  • will search for carbon-containing compounds, the building blocks of life as we know it
  • look for other elements associated with life on Earth, such as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
  • The rover's robotic arm will drop samples into SAM via an inlet on the rover's exterior
  • Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin)
  • CheMin will identify different types of minerals on Mars and quantify their abundance
  • will help scientists better understand past environmental conditions on the Red Planet
  • CheMin has an inlet on Curiosity's exterior to accept samples delivered by the rover's robotic arm
  • will shine a fine X-ray beam through the sample, identifying minerals' crystalline structures based on how the X-rays diffract
  • Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam)
  • This instrument will fire a laser at Martian rocks from up to 30 feet (9 meters) away and analyze the composition of the vaporized bits
  • help the mission team determine from afar whether or not they want to send the rover over to investigate a particular landform
  • The laser sits on Curiosity's mast, along with a camera and a small telescope
  • Three spectrographs sit in the rover's body, connected to the mast components by fiber optics
  • spectrographs will analyze the light emitted by excited electrons in the vaporized rock samples
  • Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
  • sits at the end of Curiosity's arm, will measure the abundances of various chemical elements in Martian rocks and dirt
  • APXS will shoot out X-rays and helium nuclei. This barrage will knock electrons in the sample out of their orbits, causing a release of X-rays. Scientists will be able to identify elements based on the characteristic energies of these emitted X-rays
  • Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)
  • located near the back of Curiosity's main body, will help the rover search for ice and water-logged minerals beneath the Martian surface
  • The instrument will fire beams of neutrons at the ground, then note the speed at which these particles travel when they bounce back. Hydrogen atoms tend to slow neutrons down, so an abundance of sluggish neutrons would signal underground water or ice
  • should be able to map out water concentrations as low as 0.1 percent at depths up to 6 feet (2 m).
  • Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)
  • instrument will measure and identify high-energy radiation of all types on the Red Planet, from fast-moving protons to gamma rays
  • designed specifically to help prepare for future human exploration of Mars
  • will allow scientists to determine just how much radiation an astronaut would be exposed to on Mars
  • Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS)
  • partway up Curiosity's mast, is a Martian weather station
  • measure atmospheric pressure, humidity, wind speed and direction, air temperature, ground temperature and ultraviolet radiation.
  • integrated into daily and seasonal reports
  • MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Instrumentation (MEDLI)
  • MEDLI isn't one of Curiosity's 10 instruments
  • will measure the temperatures and pressures the heat shield experiences as the MSL spacecraft streaks through the Martian sky
  • will tell engineers how well the heat shield, and their models of the spacecraft's trajectory, performed
  • data to improve designs for future Mars-bound spacecraft
Mars Base

Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | It's alive! Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe phones home - 0 views

www.spaceflightnow.com/...23phobosgrunt

scibyte23 Phobos-Grunt

shared by Mars Base on 23 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • a ground station in Australia heard signals from Russia's marooned Phobos-Grunt Mars mission
  • A tracking station in Perth succeeded in contacting Phobos-Grunt
  • Russia sought help from ESA, which maintains a network of radio stations around the world
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Perth station heard a signal from Phobos-Grunt at about 2025 GMT (3:25 p.m. EST) Tuesday
  • There has been no contact with Phobos-Grunt since then
  • "no meaningful telemetry" was received from Phobos-Grunt
  • only an acquisition of a radio signal
  • November 23
Mars Base

It's Alive! Russia's Phobos-Grunt Probe Phones Home | Phobos-Grunt Mars Mission | Mars ... - 0 views

www.space.com/signal-esa-ground-station.html

Phobos-Grunt scibyte23

shared by Mars Base on 23 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • the head of Russia's space agency, said after launch the mission could be salvaged until early December
  • many experts said the launch period has already expired, meaning Phobos-Grunt would have to wait until 2013 for another shot at Mars
  • Tuesday's brief contact did not produce telemetry to gain insight into the situation on-board the spacecraft
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • Phobos-Grunt is likely functional and charging batteries through its solar panels
  • 23 November
Mars Base

ESA - ESA Spacecraft Operations - ESA station keeps contact with Russian Mars mission P... - 0 views

www.esa.int/...SEM5AJZW5VG_0.html

scibyte23 Phobos-Grunt

shared by Mars Base on 24 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Following the first successful contact on Tuesday, ESA's tracking station in Australia again established two-way communication with Russia's Phobos–Grunt spacecraft on 23 November
  • data received from the spacecraft have been sent to the Russian mission control centre for analysis
  • The first pass was successful in that the spacecraft's radio downlink was commanded to switch on and telemetry was received
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The signals received from Phobos–Grunt were much stronger than those initially received on 22 November, in part due to having better knowledge of the spacecraft's orbital position
  • Telemetry typically includes information on the status and health of a spacecraft's systems
  • 24 November
Mars Base

Russia 'makes first contact' with stranded Mars probe (Update) - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...ntact-stranded-mars-probe.html

Phobos-Grunt scibyte23

shared by Mars Base on 24 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • signal was received at a Russian station at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday afternoon
  • expected that fragments of the probe would fall to Earth in January or February although the exact date would depend on external factors
  • One expert said that its surprise show of life had generated hope that the probe could be brought down back to Earth safely
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • November 24
Mars Base

Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | Mars Science Laboratory begins cruise to red pl... - 0 views

www.spaceflightnow.com/...av028

scibyte23 Curiosity

shared by Mars Base on 28 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • The mission got underway on time at 10:02 a.m. EST (GMT-5)
  • from launch complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
  • Atlas 5 blasted off with nearly 2 million pounds of thrust
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • Equipped with four solid-fuel strap-on boosters for additional power, the 1.2-million-pound
  • Four-and-a-half minutes after takeoff, the first stage dropped away
  • hydrogen-fueled RL10 engine at the base of the Centaur second stage ignited
  • parking orbit 11-and-a-half minutes after launch.
  • Telemetry from the rocket was spotty during a 20-minute coast to the Mars departure point
  • Earth-escape velocity of 22,500 mph
  • Mars Science Laboratory and its solar-powered interplanetary cruise stage separated from the Centaur
  • During the eight-and-a-half-month cruise to Mars
  • test the rover's instruments
  • adjust the craft's trajectory
  • tweak the control software
  • Curiosity will reach the red planet on Aug. 5
Mars Base

collectSPACE - news - "NASA's Curiosity rover flying to Mars with Obama's, others' auto... - 0 views

www.collectspace.com/...news-112611a.html

Curiosity scibyte23

shared by Mars Base on 28 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • on the rover's deck
  • is a plaque inscribed with the signatures of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, in addition to other administration and NASA leaders
  • continues a more than 40-year tradition of sending presidential plaques on planetary missions
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Elsewhere on the rover is the autograph of the 14-year-old girl from Kansas who gave Curiosity its name
  • millions of digital signatures from members of the public who signed up through NASA
  • NASA's Mars program leaders round out the autographs on the plate
  • It's on the rover in the front left corner
  • it will be visible and that at some point will be photographed on Mars by Curiosity's camera-topped mast
  • "When we made the request to the White House for permission to launch, we took this along with us and said, 'Oh by the way, if you sign this we will stick it on the rover.'"
  • Clara Ma, who won NASA's naming contest with the suggestion of "Curiosity," signed the rover in 2009
  • As part of her prize, she was invited to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, where in June 2009 she donned a "bunny suit" to step into a clean room and sign her name on the rover
  • Silicon chips attached to Curiosity's deck bear the digital signatures of people who submitted their names through NASA's website for going to Mars aboard the rover. Each chip is about the size of a dime
  • More than 1.24 million names were submitted online
  • etched into silicon using an electron-beam machine used for fabricating micro-devices at JPL
  • more than 20,000 visitors to locations of work on the rover at JPL and Kennedy Space Center wrote their names on pages, which were scanned and reproduced at microscopic scale on another chip
  • As Curiosity drives over the martian terrain, the groves in each wheel will form a string of 'dash' and 'dot' imprints — morse code that will spell out "J-P-L."
Mars Base

Short Sharp Science: Phobos-Grunt could be rerouted to visit an asteroid - 0 views

www.newscientist.com/...os-mission-phones-home-as.html

scibyte23 Phobos-Grunt

shared by Mars Base on 28 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • missed the window of opportunity for its flight to Mars
  • the probe could still be used in another research mission
  • Phobos-Grunt mission scientist Alexander Zakharov said that if the spacecraft is fully operational, the best scientific mission for it would be to study a near-earth asteroid.
Mars Base

Data beamed from Russia Mars probe deciphered - 0 views

www.marsdaily.com/...Mars_probe_deciphered_999.html

Phobos-Grunt scibyte23

shared by Mars Base on 28 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Nov 25
  • Russian specialists have deciphered telemetry data received
  • have yet to find out the cause of its erratic behavior
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • telemetric data from the spacecraft could help identify the causes of the failure and make adjustments for future interplanetary missions
Mars Base

[Zenit] Launch of Phobos-Grunt Spacecraft & Yinghuo-1 Space Probe - YouTube - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

scibyte23 Phobos-Grunt

shared by Mars Base on 28 Nov 11 - No Cached
  • Mars Base on 28 Nov 11
     
    Launch Video
Mars Base

Early sign of Alzheimer's reversed in lab - 0 views

medicalxpress.com/...ly-alzheimer-reversed-lab.html

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 01 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • One of the earliest known impairments caused by Alzheimer's disease - loss of sense of smell – can be restored by removing a plaque-forming protein in a mouse model of the disease
  • study confirms that the protein, called amyloid beta, causes the loss
  • we can use the sense of smell to determine if someone may get Alzheimer's disease, and use changes in sense of smell to begin treatments, instead of waiting until someone has issues learning and remembering
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • We can also use smell to see if therapies are working
  • Smell loss can be caused by a number of ailments
  • since the 1970s, it has been identified as an early sign of this disease
  • There is currently no effective treatment or cure for the disease
  • They found that just a tiny amount of amyloid beta – too little to be seen on today's brain scans - causes smell loss in mouse models
  • Amyloid beta plaque accumulated first in parts of the brain associated with smell, well before accumulating in areas associated with cognition and coordination
  • Despite spending more time sniffing, the mice failed to remember smells and became incapable of telling the difference between odors
  • While losses in the olfactory system occurred, the rest of the mouse model brain, including the hippocampus, which is a center for memory, continued to act normally early in the disease stage
  • Mice were given a synthetic liver x-receptor agonist, a drug that clears amyloid beta from the brain
  • After two weeks on the drug, the mice could process smells normally
  • After withdrawal of the drug for one week, impairments returned
  • team are now following-up on these discoveries to determine how amyloid spreads throughout the brain, to learn methods to slow disease progression
Mars Base

Researches find poop-throwing by chimps is a sign of intelligence - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...owing-chimps-intelligence.html

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 01 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • researchers studying such behavior have come to the conclusion that throwing feces, or any object really, is actually a sign of high ordered behavior
  • they are the only other species besides humans that regularly throw things with a clear target in mind
  • watching chimps in action for several years and comparing their actions with scans of their brains to see if there were any correlations between those chimps that threw a lot
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • those that didn’t or whether they’re accuracy held any deeper meaning
  • chimps that both threw more and were more likely to hit their targets showed heightened development in the motor cortex
  • more connections between it and the Broca’s area, which they say is an important part of speech in humans
  • Such findings led the term to suggest that the ability to throw is, or was, a precursor to speech development in human beings
  • those that could throw better also appeared to be better communicators within their group
  • better throwing chimps didn’t appear to posses any more physical prowess than other chimps
  • throwing didn’t develop as a means of hunting, but as a form of communication within groups
  • throwing stuff at someone else became a form of self expression
Mars Base

Supernova Candidate Stars May Signal "Impending Doom" - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...tars-may-signal-impending-doom

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 02 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • very visible supernova event. Hosted in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51),
  • researchers at Ohio State University, a galaxy survey may have captured evidence of a “stellar signal” just before it went supernova
  • OSU team was undertaking a survey of 25 galaxies for stars that changed their magnitude in usual ways
  • ...12 more annotations...
  • goal was to find a star just before it ended its life
  • a binary star system located in M51 produced just the results they were looking fo
  • ne star dropped amplitude just a short period of time before the other exploded
  • Maybe stars give off a clear signal of impending doom, maybe they don’t
  • But we’ll learn something new about dying stars no matter the outcome
  • it was a binary star system being studied by the OSU team
  • consisted of both a blue and red star
  • At this point, the astronomers surmise the red star was the one that dimmed significantly over the three-year period while the blue one blew its top
  • reviewing the LBT data
  • when compared with Hubble images, the red star dimmed at about 10% over the final three-year period at an estimated 3% per previous years
  • researchers surmise the red star may have actually survived the supernova event
  • After the light from the explosion fades away, we should be able to see the companion that did not explode
Mars Base

Spandex manufacturer makes elastic electrical cable (w/ video) - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...ic-electrical-cable-video.html

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Japanese company Asahi Kasei Fibers
  • has applied its knowledge of stretchable materials to make stretchable elastic power and USB cables
  • originally designed the elastic cable material, called Roboden, for wiring the soft, flexible skin of humanoid robots
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • human skin can stretch by a factor of 1.5
  • the wiring can stretch with the robots’ movements, such as twisting and turning, without losing its ability to transfer power and data.
  • the elastic cables could prove useful for minimizing cord clutter in homes and offices
  • made of an outer elastic shell with spiraled internal wiring that unspirals when pulled
  • Another application of the elastic cables could be wearable electronics - possibly for health-monitoring materials, wearable solar panels, and futuristic electronic clothing fashions
Mars Base

NASA's Pluto Probe Marks a New Milestone - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...to-probe-marks-a-new-milestone

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • December 2, 2011
  • today New Horizons passed a new milestone: it is now (and will be for quite some time) the closest spacecraft ever to Pluto
  • previous record held by Voyager 1, which came within 983 million miles (1.58 billion km) of the dwarf planet on January 29, 1986
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • launch on January 19, 2006
  • speeding toward Pluto at around 34,500 mph (55,500 km/hr).
  • New Horizons will pass by Pluto and its moons on July 14, 2015
  • It will image Pluto’s surface in unprecedented detail, resolving features as small as 200 feet (60 meters) across
  • will not land or enter orbit around Pluto
  • instead quickly pass by and continue on into the Kuiper Belt
  • team is currently investigating further exploration targets should its mission be extended.
Mars Base

Mars Express Reveals Possible Martian Glaciers - 0 views

www.universetoday.com/...eals-possible-martian-glaciers

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • , one of the greatest needs future astronauts will face is water
  • Mars Express has imaged an area on the red planet which may yield large quantities of sub-surface ice
  • Extending from the northeastern portion of the Elysium volcanic province to the northern lowlands
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • spanning latitudes from roughly 30°N to 50°N, the Phlegra Montes
  • gently rolling series of hills that have been probed by radar
  • surmised these low mountain ranges are not volcanic in origin, but created through tectonic forces and may conceal a copious supply of frozen water
  • high resolution stereo imaging from ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, we’re able to detect a feature called ‘lobate debris aprons’.
  • it’s a normal feature for mountains found around these latitudes
  • Earlier studies of the debris aprons show the material has slid down the mountain slopes with time – a feature shared with Earth’s glaciers
  • scientists surmise this region may be a type of Martian glacier
  • also been confirmed by radar on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  • lobate debris aprons could indeed signal the presence of ice – perhaps only 20 meter below the surface
  • , nearby impact craters also show signs of recent glaciation
  • ridges formed inside these ancient holes from snowfall, and then slid down the slopes
  • With time, it compacted to form a glacier structure
  • A one time, Mars’ polar axis was quite different than it is today
  • it created different climatic conditions and mid-latitude glaciers may have developed at different times over the last several hundred million years
Mars Base

NASA - Space Station Astronaut Will Answer Video Questions From Public - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...HQ_11-406_Ask_the_Crew.html

scibyte29 SpaceStation

shared by Mars Base on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • unique opportunity to ask the commander of the International Space Station a question about his role on the orbiting outpost
  • Commander Dan Burbank will answer videotaped questions from the public during a live event tentatively set for Friday, Jan. 20
  • video questions must be less than 30 seconds
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Submitters should introduce themselves and mention their location
  • Questions must be posted as responses to a video Burbank recorded on YouTube at: http://go.nasa.gov/sDYpzP
  • Burbank launched to the station on Nov. 13
  • conduct a variety of science experiments and perform station maintenance during his nearly six-month stay on the outpost
  • Burbank will answer questions during the time available
  • airing live on NASA TV
  • answers will be posted to YouTube
  • http://twitter.com/AstroCoastie
  • Expedition 30 and the exact time of the event, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
Mars Base

Astronomers Discover 18 Huge New Alien Planets | Alien Planets & Solar Systems | Gas Gi... - 0 views

www.space.com/en-planets-keck-telescope.html

scibyte24

shared by Mars Base on 03 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • Astronomers have found 18 new alien planets, all of them Jupiter-size gas giants that circle stars bigger than our sun
  • increase the number of known planets orbiting massive stars by 50 percent
  • should also help astronomers better understand how giant planets form and grow
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • just a few months after a different team of researchers announced the discovery of 50 newfound alien worlds
  • including one rocky planet that could be a good candidate for life
  • list of known alien planets is now well over 700 and climbing fast
  • researchers surveyed about 300 stars using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and instruments in Texas and Arizona
  • focused on so-called "retired" type A stars that are at least 1.5 times more massive than our own sun
  • just beyond the main stage of life — hence the name "retired"
  • ballooning out to become what's known as subgiant stars
  • scrutinized these stars, looking for slight wobbles caused by the gravitational tug of orbiting planets
  • revealed 18 new alien worlds
  • All 18 planets also orbit relatively far from their stars, at a distance of at least 0.7 times the span from Earth to the sun (about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers
  • the new finds lend support to one of two theories that attempt to explain the formation and evolution of planets
  • core accretion, posits that planets grow as gas and dust glom onto seed particles in a protoplanetary disk.
  • predicts that the characteristics of a planetary system — the number and size of planets, for example — depend strongly on the mass of the star
  • competing theory, called gravitational collapse, holds that planets form when big clouds of gas and dust in the disk spontaneously collapse into clumps that become planets
  • According to this idea, stellar mass should have little impact on planet size, number and other characteristics
  • it seems that stellar mass does in fact play an important role
Mars Base

Scientists About to Find The Force - 0 views

gizmodo.com/...ntists-about-to-find-the-force

scibyte25 HiggsBoson

shared by Mars Base on 09 Dec 11 - No Cached
  • CERN scientists may have already found evidence of the existence of the elusive Higgs boson
  • scientist from the Cern particle physics laboratory has told the BBC he expects to see "the first glimpse" of the Higgs boson next week
  • Tuesday, when two Large Hadron Collider teams would reveal the results of their research, highlighting ten candidates that show evidence of Higgs
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Those ten candidates were found from the remains of about 350 trillion collisions using the ATLAS and CMS detectors.
  • Higgs field that is everywhere
  • The elusive Higgs particle would be the carrier of that field, interacting with all the other particles
  • The Higgs boson is a pivotal part of the standard model of particle physics
  • one of the main reasons of why the Large Hadron Collider was built
  • we've been living with Higgs theory now for almost 50 years
  • Tuesday's data will not be confirmed until they are able to produce repeated evidence in future experiments
  • expect this to happen around next summer
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