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Subscribe to RSSSarah Milkovich, a member of the science team for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, guides you through an orbital view of the Curiosity rover as well as its heat shield, parachute, backshell and sky crane wreckage.
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is in fine shape, but the sky crane that lowered the car-sized, 1-ton craft to the Red Planet's surface is not looking so good. That's plain to see from the "crime scene photo" provided by Curiosity's high-flying sister probe, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The orbital image, released today, not only shows Curiosity and the sky crane, but the rover's parachute, backshell and heat shield as well. The picture was snapped on Monday night (Pacific Time), about 24 hours after the sky crane executed a perfect maneuver to lower Curiosity to its landing spot in Gale Crater, then flew away for a planned crash landing.
Sarah Milkovich, a member of the orbiter's science team, unveiled the latest jaw-dropping image during today's news briefing at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The debris scattered around the rover documents each step of the Mars Science Laboratory's nail-biter of a landing sequence.
"It's like a crime scene photo here," she said.
The heat shield is visible toward the lower right corner of the scene, which is part of a larger strip of imagery acquired by the orbiter. NASA's schedule for Curiosity's landing called for that disk-shaped part of the spacecraft to be thrown off two and a half minutes before landing — and in fact you can see the shield falling away in a video released Monday. Milkovich said it landed about three-quarters of a mile (1,200 meters) from the rover's landing site.
Curiosity's backshell and its attached parachute are spread out southwest of the rover, about four-tenths of a mile (615 meters) away. Those pieces were jettisoned from the spacecraft about a minute before landing. You can see them still attached to the rover in a different picture taken by the orbiter during Curiosity's descent.
The sky crane was the last piece of the landing puzzle: It was a rocket-powered platform designed to reduce the descent velocity to a near-standstill, and then drop the rover to the ground on the end of three strong cables. When the rover hit the surface, the cables were cut with explosive charges, and the sky crane flew itself away to avoid crashing on top of the rover. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's picture shows the dark streaks left behind by the crane's crash, about a half-mile (650 meters) to the northwest. The blast pattern suggests that the crane hit the dirt obliquely, Milkovich said.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona
This view shows the whole scene around the Curiosity rover, as captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Click on the image for a larger view, or check out NASA's close-ups for the rover, the parachute, the sky crane and the heat shield.
Analyzing the crime scene
At each site where something landed, the relatively bright material on the surface has been disrupted, exposing darker material beneath, Milkovich said. The pattern of dark and light material around the rover supports the view that Curiosity is oriented along a northwest-to-southeast axis, with the rover's front facing the 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain known as Aeolis Mons or Mount Sharp.
"You're getting the same information from orbit as you're getting from the ground, and that really makes you feel very good," Milkovich said.
Some observers noted that images taken just after the landing, by a rear-facing camera on Curiosity, seemed to show a puff of dust rising from a spot northwest of the rover — and they hypothesized that the disturbance was caused by the sky crane's crash. Now the orbital imagery shows that the spot really is roughly where the wreckage is located. A reporter asked Mike Watkins, one of the mission managers for Curiosity's $2.5 billion mission, whether the hypothesis could actually be right.
"I don't think you can rule it out, based on this image," Watkins replied.
In order to get the shot, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had to be rolled to an unusually high 41-degree angle, producing a sidelong view similar to what you'd see from an airplane window. The picture was taken from a height of roughly 186 miles (300 kilometers), yielding a resolution of 15 inches (39 centimeters) per pixel. Future pictures are expected to show the hardware in greater detail.
Kenneth Edgett, a member of the Curiosity team from Malin Space Science Systems, said the picture showed three different types of geological formations converging on a point near Curiosity's landing site. "If it were up to me, I would go where those three come together," Edgett said. Nature's Eric Hand provides more detail on Curiosity's potential future route. However, mission managers say it's too early to tell exactly which places the rover will visit.
There's one place the rover will definitely not visit: the sky crane crash scene. Engineers estimate that there were still about 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of hydrazine rocket fuel left over from the sky-crane platform's 880-pound (400-kilogram) supply when the crash occurred. Mission managers want to make sure the rover avoids having its scientific instruments contaminated by the fuel that was splashed around the impact zone.
Steven Lee via Twitter
The Curiosity mission's team for entry, descent and landing evaluates an orbital image that shows the impact location for the sky-crane descent stage on Mars.
Curiosity is getting busy
Watkins said the rover is in good shape. It's already taking lots of pictures and acquiring scientific data with its RAD experiment (which reads radiation levels) and its REMS weather station. Over the next day, mission managers will tweak the REMS settings to get it in better working order, and fine-tune the orientation of Curiosity's high-gain antenna to get it pointing more directly at Earth.
By Wednesday, Curiosity's mast should be raised to its full height of 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the ground, which will clear the way for the checkout of the mast's science and navigation cameras. The first high-resolution, 360-degree views of Curiosity's surroundings could become available in the next day or two.
Curiosity will be gathering data for at least the next two years, with the prime objectives of unraveling billions of years' worth of the geological record at Mount Sharp and looking for chemical evidence that could show whether or not Mars was ever potentially habitable. There'll be lots of cool pictures ahead, but Watkins said the early pictures are particularly treasured because they show places that have never been seen up close before.
"These are the days that people have worked five or 10 years for, going on right now," he said.
Update for 5:45 p.m. ET: Thanks to JPL's Steven Lee for sharing his picture of the entry, descent and landing team poring over the picture of the sky crane crash site. Lee also reports on the winner of the team's office pool to predict the landing location: Congratulations to entry controller designer Paul Brugarolas.
More about the Curiosity mission:
- Curiosity sends color snapshot from Mars
- Rover video looks down on Mars during landing
- Mars orbiter spots rover in midair
- NASA's Mohawk Guy marvels at his fame
- Curiosity rover scores touchdown on Mars
- Mars probe provides radiation revelations
- Video: Highlights from rover's first two days on Mars
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Gratz to everyone involved. Very impressive.
"Alright, now you guys are just showing off."
Throughout this mission; from the study of radiation levels on the journey to Mars, to the successful skycrane rocket technique, and now the coordinated reuse of other assets orbiting the planet, NASA has exemplified the spirit of innovation. Great job folks, and looking forward to continued success - can't wait to see what else you have planned.
More, more, more, we want more!
I've waited 60 years to see the surface of Mars in such crystal clear true-color pictures. More, more.
I'm very impatient for the science experiments to begin.
I admit, I'm going to be very disappointed if they don't find signs of at least past life on Mars. But it will still be fascinating.
Good work guys. Well done.
Now get busy and start getting us some more data!
Ok, I'm going to make a prediction. SAND WORMS! That's all I'm going to say. SAND WORMS!
Boy, I'm sure glad that whole "save money and do it on a shoestring" craze is over. Let's get back to spending our tax dollars in the most ridiculous way possible - Thanks to global warming you can wait a few decades and study Mars by going outside with a bucket and shovel of your own.
An awesome achievement. $50 fine for littering.
"Steve-2570999
Boy, I'm sure glad that whole "save money and do it on a shoestring" craze is over. Let's get back to spending our tax dollars in the most ridiculous way possible - Thanks to global warming you can wait a few decades and study Mars by going outside with a bucket and shovel of your own."
How many bags of garbage do you toss out every week? Everyone is part of the problem :) We consume, it's just in our nature. Sure some are worse than others but what can you do about it now?
Agreed, I want more as well, can't wait to see what else we get to look at down the road.
While watching the video at the top, I kept feeling the urge to say in a computerized-voice: "enhance" *beep beep beep beep*, "enhance" *beep beep beep beep*", "enhance" *beep beep beep beep*
Lovely pics...I'm putting these right next to the ones that show that our flag still stands on the Sea of Tranquility
...So cool!
Cooooool
Great work, JPL and NASA! Could you please find a presenter that is a little less of a dingbat though for the next press update?
Who's the dingbat?
Dingbat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dingbat is an ornament, character or spacer used in typesetting, sometimes more formally known as a printer's ornament or printer's character. The term continues to be used in the computer industry to describe fonts that have symbols and shapes in the positions designated for alphabetical or numeric characters ....
I thought the articles ornament, character or spacer used in typesetting and fonts were just fine ....
The "dingbat" you refer to, AgentSTS - Sarah Milkovich - has on her business card "I Fly Spaceships" (I kid you not).
Given her work with Cassini and Mars Recon Orbiter it's fair to say that she is among the best in the world.
Sarah is all right in my book. I'd rather listen to her than to you any day.
I don't recall Edith Bunker as being the presenter. Did I miss something?
Dingbat? This "dingbat" is the Investigation Scientist for the HiRISE on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. She's the liaison between the HiRISE science team and the JPL-based spacecraft management, as well as between scientists, instrument operators, and spacecraft engineers. She's the subject-matter expert on spacecraft science operations, and she's the science planner for the Cassini project. She's actively researching Mars polar deposits. She has her BS in planetary science from CalTech, and her MS and PhD in planetary geology from Brown.
Maybe when you grow the hell up you can aspire to be a "dingbat" like her.
But have they found any oil yet? LULZ!
I can't help envying those people in that picture above. First to get to see pictures being taken 250M away. What a thrill.
I envy that they were/are smart enough and dedicated enough to have actually made this happen. No one can ever take this achievement away from them. I would be proud to say that I swept the floors around that place. Nice job, folks!
Congrats to everyone who made it happen. Very few people will ever know the experience of spending that much time working so hard on such a huge task with such a high chance of failure. The feeling of being involved in something like that and to see it successfully touch down on another world is priceless. A great achievement!
Great work here. It was a great live broadcast for EDL.
We need more Americans doing real work, not service jobs. Too bad the bozos in Washington give more than three times as much to Homeland Security to frisk old people than to NASA to create real jobs. The spin-off's from all of this work also creates real jobs.
Well --- all of us in Canada KNOW that this was all faked in a holly wood studio
Canada is more than welcome to launch an orbiter or rover to Mars to confirm, lol...
Thinking about that, it really is funny.... Get back to us when you have landed on the moon.... ;)
Pilot, as a fellow Canadian I'd like to politely request not to be included in your conspiracy theory. Thanks
Don't discount the Canada arm on ISS. As a US Citizen we should all embrace the contributions of our international partners. Nevertheless, the conspiracy theories about faked lunar landings and now a faked mars landing is rediculous.
Pilot1, I thought they used the basement. (j/k) Good work people, can you imagine how hard all of this was back in the 1960's when they didn't have all the computers & calculators like they have today. I thought about that back when I was reading about the Voyager 1 & 2 missions. one of them took pictures of Saturns rings & if my memory is correct it took 7 yrs to get there & was less than 1 mile from where they calculated it would be. That's amazing to me.
I was being facetious of course - but I lived in Canad for seven years - conspiracy theories ABOUND and are embraced by Canadians who are SOOOOO jealous of Americas power - prestige and national wealth. Inside every Canadian is an American just screaming to get out!
What national wealth the US has been living on credit since 1959. It's getting close to time to pay the piper. The national debt is going to catch the GNP by 2017 they're estimating.
The GNP of the US is thousands of times greater than Canada. Whatever happens in the US - for example the paying of the piper that you theorize.....will also affect Canada in a much larger way. As goes the US so goes Canada. They only fantasize that they are an independent country but in reality they are totally dependent on the US.
pilot1,
The GNP of Canada is about 1/10th that of the US (actually slightly more than 1/10th right now but the 1/10th part is a good baseline), and that is explained by Canada having approximately, and this just may be a shocker, 1/10th the population.
@Johnathan - you are including in your GDP numbers export goods to the US which is the number one consumer of Canadian products. Even given that the Canadian GDP is $1 (can) compared to US $14T (US). Taxes are 27% average per capita in US and 37% per capita in Canada. Making the average purchasing power per capita $43k(us) and $35K(can). Adjusting for the value difference in the currencies on any given day you can see why the "brain drain" flows south and Canadians are left with 9/11 conspiracies and faked moon landings in order to feel better about themselves. Throw in a weak performance at the Olympics and what is there left to be proud of? BEAVERS?
Pilot,
Do you even know what the @!$%# you are talking about. You can't compare 1$ Canadian with 14T dollars US because you are comparing two completely different things.
And even if the taxes are 27% in the US and 37% in Canada, Canada's standard of living is equal or better than that of the US. THAT should make you wonder about who is doing the right thing.
I don't know where you are getting your stats from but they are NOT valid anymore. In fact, by many measures, right now Canadians are RICHER than Americans. Didn't you read the stories about that recently.
The brain drain isn't flowing south anymore. So many have been going back to Canada that it is causing problems. WOW.
Now, lets see, about 9/11 conspiracies and faked moon landings conspiracies, I have NEVER heard a Canadian (including myself, when I lived in the US and when I have lived in Canada) ever talk about 9/11 conspiracies or moon landing hoaxes. Hell I have heard those pretty much 100% by americans.
And when Canada has 300 million ignorant people, then we can talk about olympic performances, until then, I really don't care, nor do a lot of Canadians for that matter. Why not? because quite frankly, the olympics isn't, nor should it ever be about the medal, but about being part of the experience of competing.
@Jhonnyboy --- the brain drain is most DEFINITELY south especially since about the only thing Canada had to brag about was RIM and they are crashing rapidly!! You are the one who does not know what the #$%^ YOU are talking about - my numbers are not old and are verifiable if you know how to read --- what I am saying is that $14Trillion US is more than -- MUCH more than $1 Trillion Canadian!! If you dont think there are conspiracy theories abound in Canada then you have never been to BC and especially places like Gibson's and Bowen Island where 9/11 conspiracy theories are shown several times a week at the community center. The only reason the Olympics do not matter to Canadians is because they SUCK. They can barely win at their own national sport! Hockey!! LOL
pilot,
Seriously, get a @!$%#ing clue man. 14 trillion being compared to 1.38 trillion, but THEN divide that by the POPULATION. You get a roughly comparable figure.
But seriously dood, if you want to remain ignorant about life outside the US, so be it. That is YOUR LOSS, not mine.
We paid China around $75 mil in interest per day in fiscal 2011. That's just China how much did we pay all the other bondholders. That comes to $52,083 a minute. Check out the interest on the national debt.
@Johny -- did I not mention that I lived in Canada for seven years, and I have lived in China and about nine other countries as well
OK, this is cool. But, my first thought was, it's not bad enough, as human beings, that we pollute and trash the earth. We are now polluting Mars.
The Russians had a couple of things crash and I think there have been others probes including the bubble wrap on the Spirit and (I think) Opportunity. I'm sure when it is colonized they will put those things in the recycle bin.
WOW a tree hugger for MARS.
What part of California do you come from?
oookay. We promise to pick up our trash just as soon as we can get a cleaning crew out there.
Hmmm? That's not a bad idea. Get a tree hugger group to fund a manned trip to Mars to clean it up.
Yep, we're trashing up Mars pretty good.
RATS! . . . Well, now I guess we have to send some people there to clean it up. . . . Oh, all right, fine, have it your way... Put me on the short list of the crew to go to Mars to clean it up... All to happy to do may part.
Yeah, that was my first thought too ... maybe we can have the rover bury the other pieces of the EDL craft? lol
The protective "clam" shell was nice. The miniature sky crane was innovative. The rover, however, is bulky, perhaps, reflecting the state-of-the semiconductor feature size. Imagine what it would be in a few decades. Either the size comes down drastically by many folds or you pack a lot more functionality keeping the size same. Being a technologist, I am bit envious of their opportunity to be part of a monumental success.
The human race can't go anywhere without leaving a trail of garbage.
I think they're hoping its biodegradable. :)
Breadcrumbs to get home.
Where does YOUR garbage go? Ever wonder what happens AFTER you flush the toilet??
Couldn't agree with you more. We need to set up a manned base on Mars to take care of this littering problem.
This is the kind of stuff that should always be front page news, and that more of us should value: intelligent, hard-working people who push the boundaries of our knowledge by routinely pushing the boundaries of what we're capable of.
Some rich guy will start a recycling business on Mars just for fun .... "LOL"
Yes the Skycrane methodology is a nice sign, but for a return sample mission, I believe one would still need a " Space tether "
Would it be possible to have a microphone on one of these missions to pick up any sounds?
wind, quakes, etc..
Not being very intelligent about these things, just wondering.
Every ounce is extremely expensive, and they have to give priority to things that are likely to actually find something interesting.
A small mike would not be that expensive and actually hearing the sound from another planet would not only be cool but might actually have some scientific merit.
There was actually a microphone included in the unsuccessful 1999 Mars Polar Lander to listen to wind, electrical discharges, the lander's mechanistic sounds, etc., but was not included in its (successful) successor, Phoenix.
It's not a matter of expense - the problem is weight. Curiosity is already as heavy as it can be. To add a mic something would have to be removed. What would you take off to allow for your mic? And would the item you remove have less utility for the mission than a mic? (Doubtful)
There are ten experiments on board, each of which have been trimmed to be as light and as small as possible to achieve their assigned tasks. (Curiosity is a wonder of miniaturization; it's a full chem lab crammed into a space as small as a car, with tiny power requirements to match. This will have direct spin-off applications back here on Earth.)
A mic was considered, and rejected, as being not as valuable as the current manifest. A number of other instruments also did not make the cut. It's a bummer, but that is the reality.
Michael.
I was reading up on the Canadian contribution, the chem lab in a pop can, and I just went WOW, how the hell did they manage that.
Unfortunately that package form really ramps up the cost, but that is the breaks when you go outside the 80% of the market and into the extreme niches.
#16.5
It Seems that Curiosity, is about 12 ks from Opportunity, So I can envision some time in the future a Rover that can make use of the PV panels that opportunity would not be using, so planning ahead and thinking about compartmentalization, where Items can be interchangeable I believe is the way to go, see also the point made about " Using materials that can be recycled on a Martian Habitation Module "
You need air to hear sound. Mars' atmosphere is less than 1% of Eath's. There would not be much value in a mic. Most of your sounds would be transmitted by through solid objects and the noises generated by the rover would be most of what you hear.
It would be nice if everyone could get over the so called garbage on Mars. Unfortunate as it may be, we are not technologically sophisticated enough to mount expeditions of this magnitude without leaving some remnants of our landing. The benefits of these missions will no doubt be significant and in my opinion these benefits will outweigh the cost of leaving some residual scrap on what is otherwise a pristine planet. If the engineers at NASA could have done this without leaving space craft remnants then I am sure they would have. Let us enjoy this technological feat and applaud our engineers and scientists at NASA.
Considering the amount of crap that gets left behind on Everest every year, this mission is as green as it gets.
That chick in the purple top is totally bangable.
And totally out of your league.
1 to 10 scale:
Attitude = unknown
Looks = 4
Intelligence = 9
When she walks up to her front door she wipes her feet to get things like you off of her shoes.
Absolutely amazing piece of work! Congratulations to all involved. And to have all of the pictures, of not only the items that crash landed, but also the descending parachute attached Curiosity, was simply incredible. Just thinking about how the last 7 minutes was pulled off is astounding. The closest thing to far-reaching sci-fi that I can remember ever having taken place on a NASA mission.
Thanks Alan for all the good info.
And Curiosity, truck and "keep on truckin'"
Well done, toxic waste and garbage along with a new camera angle. Humans are so.....................
more recyclable materials strategically left for those that may well need it at a later date, no problem.....just don't make a friggen national park out of it.
Way to go team. The race is on, to the top of sharp mountain, oppy realizes no hope, spirit is perked up and getting his bearings, the google mars x mountain climbing team just got the message and nasa is only a mere 98 weeks from the top....all ye landlubber earthlings, the Pu robot has the drop on ya......
do your realize how many bolts I have left to go on my starfleet acadamy trainer yet? billions and billions it would seem.....but I am on it, hate to see some robot beat me to the top of sharp mountain.....yepper, you first task as a space cadet is to build your own space ship....they should tell you that Before you take the darned exams......
all kiddin aside grand job jpl and nasa.
Great job! Now let's get up there and recycle the junk... then everyone can be happy (riiighht)! :}
I just LOVE this stuff. Good Job people. Now, let's watch it roll.
And please will they not put it into the wall on the first turn. Superb accomplishment!
Now you've got me thinking: old Mars rover crash derbies, rover off-road racing, rover stunt driving... think of the potentialities! Ticket sales! Stuff blowing up! NASA funded for 20 years!
Sunday Sunday Sunday! Live at the Argyre Planitia! It's the Monsters Rovers of Mars! ROOOOOOOARRRR! (Or, come to think of it, Whirrrrrr. )
O.k., maybe not.
What do you mean ticket sales? Pay Per View and coroporate sponsors.