NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity is closing in on the Red Planet with less than 24 hours before it touches down on the Martian surface.
Final preparations were underway at Nasa today. Its final approach to the red planet ahead of its expected landing on monday morning.
Mission scientists explained how the seven cameras aboard the rover are set to capture the martian surface as we have never seen it before.
However, the rover still has one massive hurdle to overcome before it can even begin work – the much anticipated ‘seven minutes of terror’ as it hurtles through the martian atmosphere, before (hopefully) being gently placed onto the surface by a floating ‘air crane’.
Today the leading scientists behind the project explained exactly what will happen – and admitted that explaining the project has been tough due to the huge number of acronyms used.
Names and descriptions are often reduced to acronyms and abbreviations, which are faster to string together in a sentence but can end up sounding downright martian to the outside world..
‘It’s kind of our own slang,’ explained Michael Watkins, mission manager of NASA’s $2.5 billion Mars project.
SPEAKING MARTIAN
The rover is on track for its planned Aug. 5 landing at 10:31 p.m. PDT (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6).
According to NASA: As of 2:25 p.m. PDT (5:25 p.m. EDT) on Saturday, Curiosity was approximately 261,000 miles (420,039 kilometers) from Mars, closing in at a little more than 8,000 mph (about 3,600 meters per second).
NASA Television will broadcast live coverage of Curiosity’s landing on Aug. 5 beginning at 8 p.m. EDT (11 p.m. EDT; 0300 GMT Aug. 6).
You can watch NASA’s live webcast on SPACE.com by clicking here
Team members at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory share the challenges of the Curiosity Mars rover’s final minutes to landing on the surface of Mars.
UPDATE AUG 6, 2012:
CURIOSITY LANDS ON MARS: NASA’s “seven minutes of terror” ended with cries of joy from mission control at the Jet Propulsion Lab on August 6th when Curiosity sucessfully landed on Mars. One of the first pictures the rover sent back was of its own shadow:
This picture was taken through a wide-angle lens on rover’s rear Hazard-Avoidance camera. It’s only one-quarter of full resolution.As planned, the rover’s early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images are expected later in the week when the rover’s mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed.
Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. PDT Aug. 5, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) inside Gale Crater near the foot of a layered mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the mountain’s lower layers, indicating a wet history. For the next two years (at least) the rover will search the layers for ancient habitats that might have supported Martian microbial life.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments. Some are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking the chemical make-up of rocks from a distance. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover. To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity.
The mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.
http://youtu.be/-2IVx25qrHg
Source and author: space.com * JPLnews * Best0fScience Mars
We know that they have lied to us about many things, but I am of the opinion that this mission is going to be used as their “get out of jail free card.”
We, the learned open eyed people, that are happy to accept that we are not alone in this, or any other Universe, will now, hopefully, have our beliefs confirmed by the Curiousity Rover.
This would also lead to the acceptance of many things that we know that NASA and many Governments have covered up pointlessly for the last 70+ years.
John, I’ve been thinking the same things too, on another post I voiced my opinion that this mission slots in nicely with the 2012 hype and this is significant. I’m hoping this mission will show everything but then I expect we will just get the edited version. Do you think this is a plan to reveal the truth to us?
I think this is a golden opportunity for them to reveal the truth, but, we will have to accept that NASA may only deal with hard evidence.
I know that a lot of people take great belief in the noted events like Roswell and Rendlesham Forest, and the countless mass sightings of UFO’s, but unfortunately they are still very much open to scepticism. NASA scientist, for the last few years, have slowly been admitting that the possibility of life on other planets is more acceptable, through their own findings. They had to admit that not all lifeforms HAVE to be Carbon based ( http://gizmodo.com/5704158/nasa-finds-new-life ) also, with the advances in Space telescopes, they have admitted to literally 1000′s of possible habitable Planets.
IF, and it is a big if, they do find any evidence of life on Mars, I do think that they will share it with the World. It would be pretty pointless, this time around, keeping the evidence to themselves, with all the hype and television that this mission has been given.
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl 1:20:00 left to landing..
I honestly now wonder if such a truth will be opened?
As we all know we are lied to time and again, are we suddenly going to be introduced to life on mars via Rover……
War of the worlds…… “the chances of anything coming from mars are a million to one, but still they come”……….
So are we now set for that intro? Before a sudden intro of alien life here also?…..
Its the elites way isnt it, all attention in one direction, then thwack in your face from the other.
Its funny how the Olympics and the mars mission coincide…… Or am i on over active imagination mode?…..
Still cant help being skeptical where nasa are concerned, theyve spent years telling us lie after lie about the what we can see for ourselves as fact.
They tell us mars monuments are tricks of light.
The arrogance of us being the only life worthy of intelligence and even ‘that’ limited to the likes of nasa….. I mean come on any truths, even here and now seem unlikely…..
I sincerely hope otherwise!
Well maybe these events are so they can raise global awareness. Nasa mars mission is just the beggining, Imagine what the chinese are going to discover on the moon? Also about the olympics, its just an excuse to put faith of a nation into athletes.. and all they win is a barely gold medal and their face on crappy corn flake cereal box. LoL mass media distraction indeed. While USA preps war with Iran… Russia and China is going to reassure their dominance by selling the capability of defense. (Speaking of russia, they are to rebuilt the nuclear silos in cuba) maybe to be used during ww3? Disclosure is comming to an end considering life must be explained truthfully, i understand whyd they want slowly bits of truth to leak… So that panic among-st the doubtful would occur. But in a densely populated earth, not everybody is deserving of knowing what reality is. When global elite plans of depopulation take its effect… Only then we’ll get to know the entirety of the universe. If anything just believe lies wont have meaning unless the truth isnt too surprising
I wonder what the point of yet another rover can be?
Unless it was landed at the ice cap, which to my knowledge it was not, then they have seen what there is to supposedly see now, and the next step is a manned mission.
Clearly They think spending several billion dollars warrants a few thousand extra pictures of rusty dirt. (Thats all WE’ll get to see any way)
But what is it that They will get to see that We wont that warrants the expenditure.
I am inclined to agree to an extent with above comments, that it will be some thing akin to a get out of free card, a scape goat mission, a false flag of new data that they already knew about.
Yes, “I” am one of those whom believe that with usurped technology, we have already been on mars and even have base’s there.
How many black listed scientists and former presidents daughters testimonials do you need before you can accept that its actually possible.
~ VARAKIENEN.
True i havent accepted that NASA is using advance technology we arent seeing or knowing about. After all the space station just got a space craft that can regularly do supplies run every so often they need it, So it goes without saying they far past it in military advancement which is 40years of which we know about… 40years should bring out the holograms/high velocity vehicles/super computer driven drones, anyways heres something to look at if you want a little information on NASA intentions
http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/top-10-most-sinister-psyops-mission-patches/
hope rover Curiosity would find aliens
MT, I thought that NASA was more advanced with technology thanw could ever imagine but then I read their small landing prototype, Morpheus failed in testing and exploded. Now I’m thinking how could they ever be that advanced if they are making mistakes like this?! So I’m starting to question if UFOs of the ET kind are more a possible scenario than machines built by humans.
NASA it self does Not have access to technologies any greater than the public has been informed of.
Secret black op and shadow governments possess the reverse engineered tech you are thinking of, and NASA is not in any way associated with them.
This is where your thinking has been mistaken.
~ V.
Your mis-informed! IF you clicked on the website i wrote in a reply itll show NASA had worked on black project programs. Its because NASA has space travel down to a science. They hire valuable theoretical scientist and have them futher research to make advancements decades ahead of time. IF NASA wanted to they could travel near light speed. It was said “Anything starwars has been replicated and done but if it wasnt interesting enough theyll pass on it” Also a highly credited source said “They have the means to take ET home” Fak if i had the link to the video or remembered names itd give you something to take into accreditation
Try to youtube “secrets inside area 51′s S-4 facility” its in parts bt its a talkshow host who interviewed ex-scientist
Thats Not actually NASA dear.
http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/top-10-most-sinister-psyops-mission-patches/
” In 1965, NASA began using cloth patches to identify each of its missions and to symbolize the missions’ objectives and their crew. Each rocket launch has therefore a patch designed by crew members and in collaboration with the official design team. The patches are then proudly displayed on equipment and worn by NASA astronauts and other personnel affiliated with a particular manned or unmanned space mission.”
Sure its joint missions with CIA, NRO, NSA, IRS, LMA, JPL but its NASA astronauts that risk their lives like the monkey they sent out in space.
My own personal belief of nasa is, they are bare faced compulsive liars when it comes to anything and everything they spout to the public.
That includes the what they are capable of and agenda.
They distort images, sometimes blatntly delete images and very often tell us ludicrous explantions such as ‘trick of the light’ in attempts to deter us from truth.
As i always say grades dont make you intelligent and as far as nasa is concerned……..
People today have equally as good technology to discover the universe for themself, just because they are doing stuff from home does not make them any less advanced than those part of nasa.
Nasa is an elite front, never will they be honest to us.
They aint the most advanced of the human race, they prob believe they are, but theyre not!
The video currently offered by N.A.S.A. TV Home page (NASA’S CURIOSITY CREATES CURIOUS DUST CLOUD – JPL) was kinda inspiring, made me feel warm and “Fuzzy Wuzzy” inside. Until i reminded myself to mind my natural human first reaction. To logically subdue my desire to receive loving hope through what seems to be a broadcast representing “Triumph for Humanity” . Fuzzy Wuzzy is a bear! Fuzzy Wuzzy wears a big black pagan wig and has no hair.
As sure as the truth about anything can not be expected from all merchants serving Satan. Victory cannot be expected from an agency or for a nation ignorantly apathetic from false pride. Being not offended by the slaughter of it’s own brothers and sisters. By their own hands, being war mongering servants of the Demonic. All purpose toward the weaponization of space to defend all fallen. While destroying all seed of mankind.
Whats crazy about weaponizing space is the global elite envision this during the 60s or 70s just barely when we touchdown on the moon… Was there something on the moon that spooked them? Its hard to believe they’ll use space nukes on earth because we are already capable of using stealth/super sonic bombers to deliver the payload. As demonic as the new world order will be, by sending all those souls through reincarnation its more unnatural which would further blind them spiritually. Stumping their souls growth
“While destroying all seed of mankind.”
Already in effect… Bill Gates is funding GMO so they could sterilize the future generations. You cant see the effects on yourself but within one or two generations. Meaning your grandchild wont be able to have kids.
The video currently offered by N.A.S.A. TV Home page (NASA’S CURIOSITY CREATES CURIOUS DUST CLOUD – JPL) was kinda inspiring, made me feel warm and “Fuzzy Wuzzy” inside. Until i reminded myself to mind my natural human first reaction. To logically subdue my desire to receive loving hope through what seems to be a broadcast representing “Triumph for Humanity” . Fuzzy Wuzzy is a bear! Fuzzy Wuzzy wears a big black pagan wig and has no hair.
Oops:
http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/top-10-most-sinister-psyops-mission-patches/