Curiositys Landing on Mars
Just over an hour to go till Curiosity is scheduled to touchdown on Mars.
Link to countdown: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/
Link to live feed: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/
August 6, 2012
5 Comments • Newest first
[quote=uiluj4]is there anything that they're hoping that curiosity will discover on mars? like, are they there to confirm what they already know, or are they expecting to find evidence of dead aliens on mars in the near future?[/quote]
The main focus of this mission is determine whether the conditions that could support life exist, or ever existed on Mars.
They're not looking specifically for life, that will be the goal of future missions.
Mainly they're verifying the existence of water and the conditions that allow water to exist on the surface, and any sign of organic compounds that would be needed for life to exist.
The previous rovers, Spirit and Opportunity were essentially geological exploration missions, again looking for geological evidence that water used to be present on the surface of Mars.
I talked our IT stuff into putting it on in the staff meeting room. Watching the people jump for joy at the confirmation of its successful landing was pretty much the most satisfying moment in a long time.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f362/drdimo/5bfc8c74.jpg
[quote=uiluj4]i'm not a rocket scientist so forgive me if i'm factually incorrect about a butload of stuff.
i sort of understand the mission's objective and all that stuff, and there's a lot of stuff we can still learn,
but is there anything that they're hoping that curiosity will discover on mars? like, are they there to confirm what they already know, or are they expecting to find evidence of dead aliens on mars in the near future?
i don't have a good grasp of what they're trying to do, even though they explained it numerous times in the livestream, and it would be cool if someone could explain it to me in super duper layman terms[/quote]
In a nutshell they are looking for signs that Mars could have (or still does) supported life at any time during it's existence.
[quote=uiluj4]so exciting, and everyone seem so chill about it[/quote]
I am currently at work, hiding the stream in the bottom left hand corner of my screen, could not be more excited.
eyes.nasa.gov
go there for a live computer simulation in real time with the real rover