Curiosity has landed and is alive!

Curiosity has landed and is alive!
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-Sam Wormley

On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

First images coming in!

--
-Sam Wormley

On Monday, August 6, 2012 1:34:26 AM UTC-4, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

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-Sam Wormley

Right on time and in the right place.

On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

http://www.npr.org/?sc=nl&cc=brk-20120806-0136
--
-Sam Wormley

On Aug 6, 12:38*am, Sam Wormley wrote:
On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:

Curiosity has landed and is alive!

* *First images coming in!

--
-Sam Wormley

I've been watching the NASA feed on-line. What an accomplishment! What
a thrill!

We're back on Mars.

On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

NASA'S CURIOSITY ROVER LANDS ON MARS
------------------------------------
In an unparalleled technological triumph, a one-ton nuclear-powered rover the size of a small car was lowered to the surface of Mars on the end of a 25-foot-long bridle suspended from the belly of a rocket-powered flying crane late Sunday to kick off an unprecedented $2.5 billion mission.

http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/120806landing/

MISSION STATUS CENTER
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html


--
-Sam Wormley

On Aug 6, 8:40*am, Sam Wormley wrote:
On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:

Curiosity has landed and is alive!
NASA'S CURIOSITY ROVER LANDS ON MARS
------------------------------------
In an unparalleled technological triumph, a one-ton nuclear-powered rover the size of a small car was lowered to the surface of Mars on the end of a 25-foot-long bridle suspended from the belly of a rocket-powered flying crane late Sunday to kick off an unprecedented $2.5 billion mission.

http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/120806landing/

MISSION STATUS CENTER
http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html

--
-Sam Wormley

I'm amazed that this landing even worked! It was so complex and
delicate, and Mars tends to eat things like this... Stunning...

"Sam Wormley" wrote in message
...

On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

Oh look, the wormlet has found life on Mars.

On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

Curiosity lands on Mars
Most challenging robotic mission ever attempted is a success so far.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/...lands-on-mars/

Some events in the control room timeline as they arrived (14 minutes after they actually took place on Mars):

10:14 Lost telemetry, received heartbeat signals
10:15 Cruise stage separation, vehicle turns to the correct attitude, which means that the reaction control system rockets are working
10:20 5 minutes to entry, heartbeat tones still coming, spacecraft at about 5.5 km/sec
10:22 MRO began storing data for retransmission
10:24 Reentry began, signal dropped, indicating a change in antennas
10:26 Odyssey data begins flooding in, MSL deccelerating at about 11 G's
10:28 17 kilometers altitude
10:29 Down to about Mach 2, parachute will deploy at Mach 1.7
10:30 Parachute deployed!!! Spacecraft decelerating well!
10:30 Still descending, at 6.9 kilometers
10:31 86 meters/second, 4.2 kilometers and descending
10:31 Powered flight!!! yes!!! down to 500 meters altitude, 50 m/sec
10:32 10m/sec, 40 m altitude
10:32 1.5m/sec descending, skycrane is working!!!
10:32 Touchdown confirmed!!!! The skycrane worked!!!! Joy in control room. Everyone's faces are red.
10:34 First thumbnail of Curiosity's wheel rolls in, cameras working
10:35 Full-sized picture with Curiosity's wheel, Martian horizon arrives to sheer joy in the control room

Touchdown time was 10:14:39pm Pacific Time, 0.04435, 140.46kg of fuel remaining (out of 400kg to start) in descent stage as it flew away.



--
-Sam Wormley

On 8/6/2012 10:02 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
On 8/6/12 12:34 AM, Sam Wormley wrote:
Curiosity has landed and is alive!

Curiosity lands on Mars
Most challenging robotic mission ever attempted is a success so far.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/...lands-on-mars/

Some events in the control room timeline as they arrived (14 minutes
after they actually took place on Mars):

10:14 Lost telemetry, received heartbeat signals
10:15 Cruise stage separation, vehicle turns to the correct attitude,
which means that the reaction control system rockets are working
10:20 5 minutes to entry, heartbeat tones still coming, spacecraft at
about 5.5 km/sec
10:22 MRO began storing data for retransmission
10:24 Reentry began, signal dropped, indicating a change in antennas
10:26 Odyssey data begins flooding in, MSL deccelerating at about 11 G's
10:28 17 kilometers altitude
10:29 Down to about Mach 2, parachute will deploy at Mach 1.7
10:30 Parachute deployed!!! Spacecraft decelerating well!
10:30 Still descending, at 6.9 kilometers
10:31 86 meters/second, 4.2 kilometers and descending
10:31 Powered flight!!! yes!!! down to 500 meters altitude, 50 m/sec
10:32 10m/sec, 40 m altitude
10:32 1.5m/sec descending, skycrane is working!!!
10:32 Touchdown confirmed!!!! The skycrane worked!!!! Joy in control
room. Everyone's faces are red.
10:34 First thumbnail of Curiosity's wheel rolls in, cameras working
10:35 Full-sized picture with Curiosity's wheel, Martian horizon
arrives to sheer joy in the control room

Touchdown time was 10:14:39pm Pacific Time, 0.04435, 140.46kg of fuel
remaining (out of 400kg to start) in descent stage as it flew away.


Notice that it went from Mach 2 to 86 m/s in two minutes, and then
within another minute it had slowed down to 1.5 m/s and touchdown.
That's pretty remarkable in itself.