NASA’s expensive Mars exploration Curiosity rover is finally doing what it was created to do: rove. Following a successful wheel test, the probe moved forward. Photo Gallery: Curiosity Rover Makes First Tracks on Mars article tells that Curiosity beamed back some incredible images of its tracks, which tell scientists that the soil is firm, great for mobility, and won’t cause the rover to sink much. Curiosity also pulled out its big scientific guns, firing a laser beam at several rocks in the vicinity.
Yes, the Mars rover cost $2bn – but it’s far from a waste of money. Landing Curiosity on Mars was Way Harder and Way Less Expensive than the Olympics. Curiosity rover is about the size of a small SUV and weighs almost 900 kg. It uses scoops, cameras, drills, a powerful rock-vaporizing infrared laser, and 75 kilograms of scientific instruments to perform its investigation. Curiosity is very much based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology. Wind River’s VxWorks real-time operating system serves as the software platform for all functionality. Seeing the successful commencement of the Curiosity mission – powered by COTS – is certainly a cause for celebration amongst engineers.
Plan Make Your Own LEGO Curiosity Rover for fun? Stephen Pakbaz designed a custom Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory Rover set, complete with PDF build instructions and parts lists. LEGO Cusoo pages have another model of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, named Curiosity designed by a Mechanical Engineer who worked on the actual Curiosity. A LEGO Digital Designer model and step-by-step .pdf instructions of the Curiosity rover are now freely available.
Rovio sticks some Martian action into Angry Birds Space and has released the following funny advertisement video that features Curiosity rover and Angry Birds.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/02/14/nasa-taps-lockheed-to-bring-back-a-piece-of-mars/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/02/15/martian-wheel-control-algorithms-gain-traction/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://boingboing.net/2022/02/25/mars-perseverance-rover-captured-this-image-of-a-metal-drill-bit-lying-on-the-planets-surface.html?utm_content=bufferb27f5&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Mars lost its magnetic field — and then its oceans
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/mars-lost-oceans-magnetic-field/
Chemical changes inside Mars’ core caused it to lose its magnetic field. This, in turn, caused it to lose its oceans. But how?
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://newatlas.com/space/exomars-rover-mission-delay-esa-russia-ukraine-war/
Tomi Engdahl says:
European Space Agency suspends Mars rover launch on Russian rocket
By Tereza Pultarova published about 13 hours ago
https://www.space.com/europe-suspends-exomars-mars-rover-launch-russia
The ExoMars rover’s launch, already delayed from 2018, was scheduled for September 2022.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/space/perseverance-reveals-the-speed-of-sound-on-mars/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microphone on Mars rover ‘reveals two speeds of sound’
https://www.avinteractive.com/markets/public-sector-and-defence/microphone-mars-rover-reveals-two-speeds-sound-06-04-2022/
A microphone on a SuperCam on a NASA Mars rover has been used to measure variations in the speed of sound by frequency in the thin Martian atmosphere.
Scientists found that the speed of sound on Mars varies with pitch (or frequency). On Earth, sounds typically travels at 767 mph (343 metres per second). But on Mars, low-pitched sounds travel at about 537mph (240 metres per second) while higher-pitched sounds move at 559 mph (250 meters per second).
Another effect of the thin atmosphere that was uncovered was that sounds only carry a short distance on Mars and higher-pitched tones hardly carry at all. On Earth, sound might drop off after about 213 feet (65 metres). But on Mars, sound falters at just 26 feet (8 metres) with high-pitched sound lost completely at that distance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sound on Mars Has a ‘Unique’ And Extremely Trippy Property, Recordings Reveal
https://www.vice.com/en/article/dyp9pa/sound-on-mars-has-a-unique-and-extremely-trippy-property-recordings-reveal?utm_medium=social&utm_source=vice_facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/04/11/mothballing-rosalind-how-to-put-a-space-mission-in-storage/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/05/12/can-you-help-nasa-build-a-mars-sim-in-vr/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Perseverance Found Some Unexpected Trash On Mars
A fragment of its descent module was spotted far away from the landing site, with no clear idea of how it got there.
https://www.iflscience.com/perseverance-found-some-unexpected-trash-on-mars-64087
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mars probe running Windows 98 receives software update after two decades
By Will McCurdy published about 9 hours ago
Windows 98 lives on in space
https://www.techradar.com/news/mars-probe-running-windows-98-receives-software-update-after-two-decades
Patch management for the latest versions of Windows might the concern of most of us located here on Earth, but meanwhile, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft has received the first update to its Window 98-based system in 19 years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Mars Express spacecraft is finally getting a Windows 98 upgrade https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/24/23181715/mars-express-marsis-windows-98-upgrade-esa
n Engineers at the European Space Agency (ESA) are getting ready for a Windows 98 upgrade on an orbiter circling Mars.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/mars-orbiter-is-about-to-upgrade-from-windows-98-64225
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do Martians Love Spaghetti? New Image From Perseverance Has People Speculating
Let us eat the mysterious Italian debris.
https://www.iflscience.com/new-image-from-perseverance-has-people-speculating-if-there-are-italians-on-mars-64480
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2022/10/28/mini-mars-rover-runs-on-pi-pico-w/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Onko tässä Nasan Mars-laskeutujan viimeinen kuva? Koskettava päivitys sai monet kyyneliin https://www.is.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000009279096.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Perseverance Has Dropped Its First Sample Cannister On The Martian Soil
This is the first of several drop-offs that will one day be taken back to Earth.
https://www.iflscience.com/perseverance-has-dropped-its-first-sample-cannister-on-the-martian-soil-66780
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/04/18/nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-completes-50th-flight/
Tomi Engdahl says:
You think patching Windows is a pain? Try patching a Mars rover millions of miles away
Just uploading the patch alone took 10 days.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/you-think-patching-windows-is-a-pain-try-patching-a-mars-rover-142-million-miles-away/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/02/nasas-curiosity-mars-rover-gets-a-major-software-upgrade/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Simulated ET To Phone Home From Mars This Afternoon
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/24/simulated-et-to-phone-home-from-mars-this-afternoon/
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA MARS ROVER APPEARS TO HAVE FOUND REMNANTS OF ANCIENT RAGING RIVER
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-rover-ancient-raging-river
Tomi Engdahl says:
SCIENTISTS DETECT RADIOACTIVE HEAT SOURCE INSIDE MARS
https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-detect-radioactive-heat-source-inside-mars
THE PLANET IS COVERED IN A SURPRISINGLY THICK ARMOR.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-mars-rock-hole-donut
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-mars-helicopter-contact-loss
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/08/07/when-the-sojourner-mars-rover-nearly-ran-lisp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.iflscience.com/we-may-have-found-life-on-mars-50-years-ago-then-killed-it-70279?fbclid=IwAR3PQ2B6v9nV_J72zg9PaQt4tbCDkbXw-VSs8X1u72I15nXmnRnVYV-mxOo
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/09/14/rocker-bogie-suspension-the-beloved-solution-to-extra-planetary-rovers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This could be more evidence of water (and life) on Mars.
CHINA’S MARS ROVER DETECTED POLYGONS UNDER THE PLANET’S SURFACE
https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-mars-polygons
THIS COULD BE MORE EVIDENCE OF WATER (AND LIFE) ON MARS.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Transitions Into Stationary Testbed
https://hackaday.com/2024/04/19/nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-transitions-into-stationary-testbed/