cracked: Sand People always break your rover to hide their numbers. AHHHHH!

cracked:

Sand People always break your rover to hide their numbers.

AHHHHH!

(Source: artyucko, via cybergata)

  • August 11
  • , 2012
theatlantic: Picture of the Day: Yes, Rocks Really Are That Color on Mars [Image: NASA, taken by Viking I] PET ROCKS.

theatlantic:

Picture of the Day: Yes, Rocks Really Are That Color on Mars

[Image: NASA, taken by Viking I]

PET ROCKS.

  • August 8
  • , 2012
Curiosity’s first color image from the surface of Mars! So proud of our little guy up there in space. Color pictures already!? *sniffle sniffle* They grow up so fast.

Curiosity’s first color image from the surface of Mars!

So proud of our little guy up there in space. Color pictures already!? *sniffle sniffle* They grow up so fast.

(Source: Wired)

  • August 7
  • , 2012
                    

NASA’s new Mars rover, Curiosity, is speeding on its way to meet the Red Planet. While we’re still waiting to see this beautiful machine rolling around on Mars, it’s possible to find its full-scale official JPL twin here on Earth at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

We visited the museum to get a glimpse of the model and talk to Exploratorium senior scientist Paul Doherty about the one-ton rover, which is packed with scientific gear. Standing next to the model, you get a distinct sense of the rover’s impressive size and scale and a close-up view of all it’s parts. The five-year-old in you may want to climb right on top and get a ride across the Martian terrain (it’s unfortunately roped off).

Curiosity is NASA’s latest flagship Mars mission, dwarfing previous rovers such as Spirit and Opportunity. After landing in Gale crater, it has a preliminary two-year mission to study Mars for signs of habitability and unravel the planet’s complex watery past. If life did every arise on the Red Planet, there’s a good chance that Curiosity will discover important clues to where and how it formed. The rover is set to touch down on Mars tonight just after 10:30 p.m Pacific (1:30 a.m. Eastern).

[via Wired Science]

  • August 5
  • , 2012
Assuming it safely passes through its terrifying and complex descent sequence, NASA’s newest rover, Curiosity, should get its wheels on the Martian surface in just two short days, at 10:32 p.m. Pacific on Aug. 5. The size of a small SUV, Curiosity is packed with 10 state-of-the-art instruments that will allow it to answer questions about Mars’ wet history, current atmosphere and climate, and the possibility of ancient or contemporary life. Read more about the lasers, cameras, and particle detectors that Curiosity’s packing @ Wired Science.

Assuming it safely passes through its terrifying and complex descent sequence, NASA’s newest rover, Curiosity, should get its wheels on the Martian surface in just two short days, at 10:32 p.m. Pacific on Aug. 5. The size of a small SUV, Curiosity is packed with 10 state-of-the-art instruments that will allow it to answer questions about Mars’ wet history, current atmosphere and climate, and the possibility of ancient or contemporary life.

Read more about the lasers, cameras, and particle detectors that Curiosity’s packing @ Wired Science.

  • August 3
  • , 2012