NASA Hosts Oct. 4 Teleconference About Mars Curiosity Rover Progress

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington                   

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

 

DC Agle/Guy Webster

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-393-9011/818-354-6278

agle@jpl.nasa.gov / guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, Oct. 4, to provide a status update on the Curiosity rover's mission to Mars' Gale Crater.

Curiosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory, is 56 days into a two-year mission to investigate whether conditions may have been favorable for microbial life.

For teleconference dial-in information, reporters must send their name, media affiliation and telephone number to Elena Mejia at elena.mejia@jpl.nasa.gov or call the Media Relations Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at 818-354-5011.

Audio and visuals of the event will be streamed live online at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio, and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl.

Visuals will be available at the start of the event at http://go.nasa.gov/curiositytelecon.

For information about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

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From R2-D2 to Curiosity: Good Fiction to Great Science

NASA’s Curiosity rover is scouring the Martian surface at Gale Crater with drills, cameras and even a laser so it can find out more about the Red Planet. Curiosity carries no people, instead taking all of its readings by remote control and radioing them back to eager scientists on Earth.

It’s a biography familiar to “Star Wars” fans, thousands of who gathered in Orlando, Fla., for Celebration VI. For lovers of the galaxy far, far away, the idea of a robotic traveler working diligently far from home is reminiscent of R2-D2′s various journeys to Tatooine, Dagobah and Bespin or the Imperial Probe Droid’s search around the ice planet Hoth.

“From what I’ve seen, people being able to command to steer a robot on Mars from so far away is truly amazing,” said Ben Burtt, the sound designer on the “Star Wars” films who gave R2-D2 a voice mix of electronic sounds with human inflections.

He was also trained as a scientist, having majored in physics.

“I never could have imagined that being the case back 40 years ago when we started on the first Star Wars. At that time, even the R2 on the set could barely move down the hallway.”

While Curiosity represents the technological cutting edge for robots landing on other planets, it still lacks the personality and other high-level attributes of the fictional “Star Wars” machines. No worry, say fans of the film franchise. Reality will catch up soon enough.

“I think good science fiction motivates good science,” said Brian Pauley, an Ohio fan who dressed as young hero Luke Skywalker for the event. “When you see something, you say, ‘I’d like to do that’ and you set about doing it and then you accomplish it.”

If they had the chance to send R2-D2 on a scouting mission to a real planet in the solar system, Mars would still get most of the attention.

“Mars, that’s the best bet,” said Evan Greenwood, portraying Glen Marek, or Starkiller. “It’s probably the only one that will be terraformable at some point. Not nowadays, but it has the best chance. It’s the closest to Earth, it’s a mini-Earth, so it’s the best place for a base. So if an asteroid hits Earth, and if there’s people somewhere else, the human race can survive. Until we do that, we’re in peril.”

A more Hoth-like world also got a vote, though.

“Pluto would probably be the best to send it to because we don’t know anything about Pluto,” said an Imperial Officer-costumed Jasmine Seale. “It’s so far away, it’s so hard to figure anything out. So I’d love to send R2-D2 out there where we can’t reach that well.”

The most important thing, the fans said, was to keep exploring, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge outward.

“I think we’re just scratching the surface,” said Tim Martinez, dressed in the menacing black armor of Darth Vader. “I was a big astronaut buff when I was young and Mars has always intrigued me and I think the more that we explore, the more we’ll learn and the more there is to explore. Maybe we’ll travel there one day.”

Just as astronauts followed robots in real-life, no one expects the machines to be the only planetary voyagers.

So what “Star Wars” character would have the best chance of becoming an astronaut?

“Han Solo,” said Storm Trooper look-alike Christopher Garrison. “He made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs. If anyone can do it, Han Solo can do it.”

Mariana King, a.k.a. Oola, agreed to a point.

“Han Solo has the courage, but he’s kind of reckless,” King said.

Luke Skywalker also was a popular choice.

“The best astronaut would have to be Luke Skywalker because he’s like the pioneer of Star Wars, he’s done everything,” said Marcus Richardson, who donned the flowing blue robes of Lando Calrissian for the “Star Wars” celebration.

At least one fan would pick a legion of astronaut candidates.

“I think the best astronauts would be the stormtroopers because they’re trained so much,” said Annette Cheney, an Australian fan who dressed as a Wookie. “They can do anything, so I think they could pick up NASA space training the fastest and easiest.”

Why not send the stormtroopers’ boss, Darth Vader, said Martinez.

“He’s already equipped to breathe in space, he needs nothing else, he’s ready to go,” Martinez said.

When science fiction shows or books offer a vision of what space travel and other worlds might look and feel like, people become intrigued to find out more about real planets, the “Star Wars” fans said.

“Every time NASA takes another step out, I feel like that was the reason I fell in love with ‘Star Wars,’ said fan Kara Gardner. “Because I wanted to know what was out there. Now we’re finding out what’s on Mars and it’s kind of like, well, that reminds me of this planet in the ‘Star Wars’ universe.”

“Every step we take gets us a little bit closer,” said David Atteberry, wearing a detailed Mandalorian armor costume similar to Boba Fett’s attire, “and that’s one of the things I found about the Curiosity rover, it’s like we’re finally getting out there, back into space and getting closer to that dream of being able to explore our galaxy.”

By Steven Siceloff, www.nasa.gov

NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

Mars Rover Curiosity Arm Tests Nearly Complete

Dwayne Brown / Steve Cole

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1726 / 202-358-0918

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov / stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

 

Guy Webster / D.C. Agle

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-5011

guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Curiosity team is almost finished robotic arm tests in preparation for the rover to touch and examine its first Martian rock.

Tests with the 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm have allowed the mission team to gain confidence in the arm's precise maneuvering in Martian temperature and gravity conditions. During these activities, Curiosity has remained at a site it reached by its most recent drive on Sept. 5. The team will resume driving the rover this week and use its cameras to seek the first rock to touch with instruments on the arm.

"We're about to drive some more and try to find the right rock to begin doing contact science with the arm," said Jennifer Trosper, Curiosity mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Two science instruments -- a camera called Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) that can take close-up, color images and a tool called Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) that determines the elemental composition of a target rock -- have passed preparatory tests at the rover's current location. The instruments are mounted on a turret at the end of the arm and can be placed in contact with target rocks.

Curiosity's Canadian-made APXS had taken atmospheric readings earlier, but its first use on a solid target on Mars was this week on a calibration target brought from Earth. X-ray detectors work best cold, but even the daytime APXS tests produced clean data for identifying elements in the target.

"The spectrum peaks are so narrow, we're getting excellent resolution, just as good as we saw in tests on Earth under ideal conditions," said APXS principal investigator Ralf Gellert of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. "The good news is that we can now make high-resolution measurements even at high noon to support quick decisions about whether a sample is worthwhile for further investigations."

The adjustable-focus MAHLI camera this week has produced sharp images of objects near and far, "Honestly, seeing those images with Curiosity's wheels in the foreground and Mount Sharp in the background simply make me cry," said MAHLI principal investigator Ken Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. "I know we're just getting started, but it's already been an incredible journey."

MAHLI is also aiding evaluation of the arm's ability to position its tools and instruments. Curiosity moved the arm to predetermined "teach points" Sept. 11, including points above each of three inlet ports where it will later drop samples of soil and powdered rock into analytical instruments inside the rover. Images from the MAHLI camera confirmed the placements. Photos taken before and after opening the inlet cover for the chemistry and mineralogy (CheMin) analytical instrument also confirmed good operation of the cover.

"Seeing that inlet cover open heightens our anticipation of getting the first solid sample into CheMin in the coming weeks," said CheMin principal investigator David Blake of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

A test last week that checked X-rays passing through an empty sample cell in CheMin worked well. It confirmed the instrument beneath the inlet opening is ready to start analyzing soil and rock samples.

Curiosity is five weeks into a 2-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

For more about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.

You can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.

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NASA Orbiter Observations Point to 'Dry Ice' Snowfall on Mars

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington        

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

 

Guy Webster

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-6278

guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) data have given scientists the clearest evidence yet of carbon dioxide snowfalls on Mars. This reveals the only known example of carbon dioxide snow falling anywhere in our solar system.

Frozen carbon dioxide, better known as "dry ice," requires temperatures of about minus 193 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 125 Celsius), which is much colder than needed for freezing water. Carbon dioxide snow reminds scientists that although some parts of Mars may look quite Earth-like, the Red Planet is very different. The report is being published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

"These are the first definitive detections of carbon dioxide snow clouds," said the report's lead author Paul Hayne of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "We firmly establish the clouds are composed of carbon dioxide -- flakes of Martian air -- and they are thick enough to result in snowfall accumulation at the surface."

The snow falls occurred from clouds around the Red Planet's south pole in winter. The presence of carbon dioxide ice in Mars' seasonal and residual southern polar caps has been known for decades. Also, NASA's Phoenix Lander mission in 2008 observed falling water-ice snow on northern Mars.

Hayne and six co-authors analyzed data gained by looking at clouds straight overhead and sideways with the Mars Climate Sounder, one of six instruments on MRO. This instrument records brightness in nine wavebands of visible and infrared light as a way to examine particles and gases in the Martian atmosphere.

The data provide information about temperatures, particle sizes and their concentrations. The new analysis is based on data from observations in the south polar region during southern Mars winter in 2006-2007, identifying a tall carbon dioxide cloud about 300 miles (500 kilometers) in diameter persisting over the pole and smaller, shorter-lived, lower-altitude carbon dioxide ice clouds at latitudes from 70 to 80 degrees south.

"One line of evidence for snow is that the carbon dioxide ice particles in the clouds are large enough to fall to the ground during the lifespan of the clouds," co-author David Kass of JPL said. "Another comes from observations when the instrument is pointed toward the horizon, instead of down at the surface. The infrared spectra signature of the clouds viewed from this angle is clearly carbon dioxide ice particles and they extend to the surface. By observing this way, the Mars Climate Sounder is able to distinguish the particles in the atmosphere from the dry ice on the surface."

Mars' south polar residual ice cap is the only place on Mars where frozen carbon dioxide persists on the surface year-round. Just how the carbon dioxide from Mars' atmosphere gets deposited has been in question. It is unclear whether it occurs as snow or by freezing out at ground level as frost. These results show snowfall is especially vigorous on top of the residual cap.

"The finding of snowfall could mean that the type of deposition -- snow or frost -- is somehow linked to the year-to-year preservation of the residual cap," Hayne said.

JPL provided the Mars Climate Sounder instrument and manages the MRO Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about MRO, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mro.

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