Space Post - MSL - biggest & best Mars mission

[Neil]

The delivery of Nasa's Mars Science Laboratory rover, known as Curiosity, to the surface of the Red Planet is a mouth-watering prospect. The $2.5bn robot is by far the most capable machine ever built to touch another world. Consider just the history of wheeled vehicles on Mars. In 1997, the US space agency put a toy-sized robot on the surface called Sojourner. It weighed just over 10kg. This was followed seven years later by the 170kg, twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit. Their instrument complement combined (5kg + 5kg) was equal to the total mass of Sojourner. Now, we await Curiosity - a 900kg behemoth. Its biggest instrument alone is nearly four times the mass of that teeny robot back in '97. "It's the size of a Mini Cooper with the wheelbase of a Humvee," is how project scientist John Grotzinger describes the rover. So, we're expecting great things from Curiosity. A big machine to address some big questions. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15841893

[Mike70]

i can't wait. first, let's get this bitch down on the surface safely then get to work. i'm glad that the decision was made to stop dicking around with solar power arrays on the surface of mars. the dust can cause too many problems. the use of plutonium is and will remain the best choice for powering spacecraft/landers/orbiters. people who criticize its use can literally go f*ck themselves and shut up at the same time.

[Legion2213]

We should be using the money we waste on space research to feed blind orphans...or something. All that said, add a plasma cannon and it looks good to go! (unless it has one and they just don't include that sort of info in these civilian press releases). And it's projected 10 years worth of roaming around 'splorin' stuff is just boss...it's smaller siblings did a cracking job, all exceeding expectations and predicted service life if I remember correctly.

[Neil]

Watch the launch (tomorrow) - http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...ch-msl-launch/ -- -------- Post added 26-Nov-2011 at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was 25-Nov-2011 at 12:04 PM ---------- Watch the launch (tomorrow) - http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/20...ch-msl-launch/ Just over an hour! FINGERS CROSSED!

[Mike70]

...it's smaller siblings did a cracking job, all exceeding expectations and predicted service life if I remember correctly. MER-B, also known as "Opportunity" is still working well and sending back data after 7 years on the surface - that's 30 times what its expected mission length would be. the "Spirit" rover got stuck after 6 years of exploration and will probably not move again. both are using solar panels and have revealed one of the weaknesses of using them - Mars is a very dusty place and both rovers have had problems with dust coating the solar panels and lowering their power output. several strategies had to be developed to shake off the dust. with plutonium, you don't have to worry about one of Mars' massive dust storms bringing your project to an end. RTGs are the way to go for providing electricity to spacecraft, orbiters, and landers - unless they are operating close enough to the sun (like MESSENGER or DAWN) to make solar arrays powerful enough to do the job. and it's away! http://www.space.com/13738-nasa-mars...sl-launch.html http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av028/status.html