You are browsing the archive for MSL.
6 October 2009
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MARDI
Next up in my series of posts about the instruments on MSL is the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI). Once again, this camera is made by MSSS just like MastCam and MAHLI, and it shows. Like the other two, MARDI is a color camera, and it shoots high-def 1600×1200 pixel images. MARDI is special because it points straight down, and it can take pictures at 4.5 frames per second. That means …
30 September 2009
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MAHLI
Last time, I talked about the MastCam color cameras on MSL, so it only makes sense to continue with one of the other cameras: the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). MAHLI will serve the same role on MSL that the microscopic imager on the current MER rovers does: it will provide detailed photos of the soil and rock surfaces acessible by the robotic arm. MAHLI is made by the same …
16 September 2009
Mars Science Laboratory Instruments: MastCam
A few weeks ago I gave a lunch talk at Cornell summarizing the MSL mission and particularly the instruments that it will carry and was shocked by the number of people who showed up! So, sensing that there is some significant “Curiosity” about the mission, I decided to do a series of posts here. If you are impatient and don’t want to wait for me to take my sweet time …
15 September 2009
Los Alamos
Greetings from Los Alamos New Mexico! I’ll be out here until the 24th, first getting trained to use lasers safely, then collecting lots of data and starting to crunch the numbers. This is a placeholder post, but while I’m here I’m planning on doing a series of posts about the instruments on MSL, so stay tuned!
24 July 2009
The Future of NASA
Earlier this week I mentioned that there is an ongoing evaluation of the future of human spaceflight at NASA. The so-called “Augustine commission” has been tasked to: “conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the Nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight – one that is safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable. The …
27 May 2009
MSL is a Curiosity
Well, it looks like the next-generation rover that will be launching to Mars in 2011 (and happens to be the focal point of my PhD thesis) just got a name! Before today it was referred to as the Mars Science Laboratory or ‘MSL‘. But now it will go by the name Curiosity! The name comes from a short essay written by 12-year-old Clara Ma: Curiosity is an everlasting flame that …
27 April 2009
Pretty Dunes in Gale Crater
This is a tiny subframe from the HiRISE image PSP_009294_1750.
24 March 2009
Give MSL a Real Name!
The voting has begun to give the Mars Science Laboratory a genuine, non-acronym name! There are nine potential names, and NASA is asking the general public to submit their votes this week. So go vote and help take part in the next Big Mission to Mars!
20 March 2009
Grand Falls and Sand Dunes
(This is day 6 of a week-long field trip in Arizona. Get caught up with days 1,2,3,4,5) Today we visited Grand Falls and the nearby dune field. Grand Falls is especially interesting because it combines many of the processes that are active in shaping planetary surfaces. The falls are the result of a huge lava flow pouring into the ancient canyon of the Little Colorado river, filling the canyon and …
2 March 2009
The Reasons Behind the MSL Delay
There are a pair of excellent articles in this week’s Space Review by Adrian Brown, looking at the Technical and Budgetary reasons that the Mars Science Lab launch was delayed until 2011. Go take a look; these two essays do a great job of distilling a lot of the relevant information on the launch delay into one place.
