Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known
Founder: Joseph Barone
Contributors: crookedindifference, bumerangue, propagandery, rocketmagic, rostenbach
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Why So Curious?
The First Human Mission to Mars in 2018
A press release indicated that a new organization, Inspiration Mars Foundation, led by the first private space traveler, Dennis Tito, would make a major announcement, February 27th concerning a 501 day mission to Mars. http://spaceref.com/mars/the-first-human-mission-to-mars-in-2018.html
Earth Missions to Mars infographic
This is a full-resolution version of the NASA Curiosity rover descent to Mars, taken by the MARDI descent imager. As of August 20, all but a dozen 1600x1200 frames have been uploaded from the rover, and those missing were interpolated using thumbnail data. The result was applied a heavy noise reduction, color balance, and sharpening for best visibility.
Breaking News! NASA just selected its next Discovery-class mission. We’re going back to Mars with InSight: a stationary lander to study the geophysics of Mars. For the first time ever, it will deploy a seismometer, a heat-flow probe 5 meters (!), and an antenna to very accurately measure Mars’ movement around the sun. Less-than-good-news: no color camera.
More info here: http://insight.jpl.nasa.gov/
Britney Spears Tweets at Mars Rover, Curiosity Prefers Anthrax
A couple of days ago, Britney Spears tweeted at Curiosity — NASA’s radioisotope-powered Martian space rover — “So @MarsCuriosity… does Mars look the same as it did in 2000?” She then linked to her video for “Oops!… I Did It Again,” which takes place on, of course, Mars. The $2.5 billion piece of electronics was actually kind enough to reply, “Hey Brit Brit. Mars is still looking good. Maybe someday an astronaut will bring me a gift, too. Drill bits crossed ;).” Adorable! But the rover might not be as keen on “Brit Brit” as it lets on.
As revealed in an AMA session with the “engineers and scientists on the Mars Curiosity Rover Mission” here (via Business Insider), the rover listens to a variety of classic rock and metal (even Anthrax), but no Britney Spears. Apparently, the scientists operating the rover like to send it themed wake-up songs, which have ranged from the Beatles to showtunes to Wagner. Check out the full Martian soundtrack below.
Sol 2: The Beatles, “Good Morning Good Morning”
Sol 3: Singin’ in the Rain, “Good Morning”
Sol 5: Richard Wagner, “The Ride of the Valkyries,” and the R10 [software upgrade] victory song: Theme From “Mission: Impossible”
Sol 6: Anthrax’s “Got the Time” and 30 Seconds to Mars’ “Echelon”
Sol 7: The Doors, “Break on Through”, and George Harrison’s “Got My Mind Set on You”
Sol 8: John Williams, Star Wars Theme
Sol 9: Simon and Garfunkel, “Wake Up Little Susie”
Sol 10: Frank Sinatra, “Come Fly With Me”
India plans to send craft to orbit Mars next year
India plans to send a spacecraft to Mars next year on a scientific mission critics say shows the governing party’s skewed priorities when people lack electricity and safe drinking water.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the 4.5 billion rupee ($82 million) mission during a speech Wednesday marking the 65th anniversary of India’s independence from British rule.
“This spaceship to Mars will be a huge step for us in the area of science and technology,” he said.
Martian landscapes gallery
Since 2006, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been orbiting Mars, currently circling approximately 300 km (187 mi) above the Martian surface. On board the MRO is HiRISE, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, which has been photographing the planet for several years now at resolutions as fine as mere inches per pixel. Collected here is a group of images from HiRISE over the past few years, in either false color or grayscale, showing intricate details of landscapes both familiar and alien, from the surface of our neighboring planet, Mars.
Mars Greely Haven 360º panorama
By Opportunity rover.
Why NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Landing Will Be Seven Minutes of Absolute Terror
On August 5, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover will touch down on the surface of the Red Planet. Or that’s what we all hope, because it will be the craziest landing in the history of space exploration.
New concepts for Mars-probing rovers would use Martian wind to move around the planet.
On 8 November the Russian Fobos-Grunt and Chinese Yinghuo 1 spacecraft are set to embark on their joint mission to Mars and its moon Phobos. The two probes will blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan atop a Zenit2-Fregat launch vehicle.
The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in the autumn of 2012. Fobos-Grunt will enter Martian orbit, studying the planet for some months then landing on Phobos in the spring of 2013. A sub-probe will collect samples from Phobos over a few days, before departing to return them to Earth with a planned arrival in August 2014.
Yinghuo 1 is the first Chinese mission to Mars. It will operate in Martian orbit for one year, studying the planet and its external environment, including the interaction of its magnetic field with the solar wind.
The Fobos-Grunt sample return capsule includes the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE) developed by the Planetary Society. LIFE carries 10 types of organisms selected for their ability to withstand harsh conditions. The organisms will travel from Earth to Phobos and back with a similar exposure to the space environment that they would have inside a rock. The experiment aims to test the premise that simple life could survive the journey from one planet to another, if that rock was thrown into space through a meteorite impact.
Fobos-Grunt mission home page
http://phobos.cosmos.ru/index.php?id=618&L=2
Roscosmos (Russian Space Agency)
http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?lang=en
Source: Roscosmos Facebook page
