mars rover

NASA's new Mars rover, Curiosity, kills time on Twitter

NASA's newest Mars rover, Curiosity, has a lot of time on its hands these days--so naturally it's spending a lot of time on Twitter.

The $2.5 billion science laboratory on wheels is in the middle of a 352-million mile trip to the Red Planet with an anticipated arrival date of August 5, 2012. If you're wondering exactly how fast that means Curiosity is traveling through space right now, well... you could just ask it, like @KristineKisky did, eliciting this response that's sure to confuse all non-space nerd-type people:

Curiosity has been actively tweeting and answering fan tweets since before its launch at the end of November. It's even developed a fairly sophisticated--if incredibly geeky--sense of humor and pop culture sensibility, with gems like Super Bowl weekend's "Think Brady & Manning throw long spirals? I'll go 352+ million miles to "touchdown" in Gale Crater." Or "30 Seconds to Mars? More like 241 days to go!"… Read more

Mars rover: The next generation

Make way for Curiosity, a car-size Mars rover that will pick up where Spirit and Opportunity left off. It launches this month, and will arrive on the Red Planet next summer.

$2.5 billion Mars rover departs Earth, heads for red planet After a flawless launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, NASA's costly Mars Science Laboratory rover is safely on the way to Mars for a bold mission to study the habitability of the red planet. (Posted in Space Shot by William Harwood) November 26, 2011 3:17 a.m. PT

Ambitious Mars Science Lab rover set for Saturday launch … Read more

Rover finds evidence of subsurface water on Mars

Who says the NASA Spirit doesn't live on?

Those who mourned the Mars rover's failure to communicate with its earthbound operators will be heartened to know data from the plucky explorer continues to produce important findings--even as the rover itself remains stuck in a sand trap and out of contact. In fact, NASA says that trap has turned out to be a jackpot, announcing today that Spirit has detected evidence of water under the ground's surface.

Layers of soil with different compositions in the area where the rover became stuck more than a year ago led the … Read more

Mars rover on the move, another yet to come

The life of a Mars rover is probably bit like that of Wall-E at the start of the Pixar movie: a lot of lonely treks in dutiful fulfillment of a mission through the remains of a planet's earlier days.

The rovers Spirit and Opportunity may not be Hollywood icons, but they have done NASA proud. And in just the last day or so, Opportunity hit yet another milestone--it now holds the record for the longest active service on the surface of Mars, surpassing the mark of six years, 116 days (in Earth time) set by the Viking 1 lander, … Read more

Mars rover gets smarter with age...and software

NASA's rover Opportunity is getting smarter through software.

Celebrating its seventh year investigating the surface of the Red Planet, Opportunity is now able to make its own choices about which rocks it should investigate further and which ones it should leave alone, according to a NASA report on Tuesday.

Thanks to a new software upload, Opportunity's computer can analyze the photos taken with its wide-angle camera and isolate rocks that meet specific criteria. It can then determine whether specific rocks are worthy of close-up shots through its narrow-angle, color-filtered camera.

The new software called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1153: iPad? Yes. Apple named it iPad.

We recorded right after Steve Jobs finished his 90-minute announcement of the Apple iPad, Apple's new tablet computer. It's variably impressive depending on who you are, but will anyone buy it? We discuss. Also, it's over for the Mars rover Spirit. At least the roving part is over, but it's still alive and doing science.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1153

Apple iPad tablet http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10440943-260.html

After three months, only 35 subscriptions for Newsday’s Web site http://www.observer.com/2010/media/after-three-months-only-35-subscriptions-newsdays-web-site… Read more

Mars rover no more, but Spirit lives on

NASA's Mars rover Spirit isn't dead yet, but it has reached its final resting place.

After months of unsuccessful attempts at freeing the rover from a sandtrap, NASA on Tuesday said it has decided to make the best of the situation and instruct it to conduct scientific experiments from its current location.

The rover became trapped last April when one of its wheels broke through a crusty Martian surface and dug into the fine, powdery soil beneath it. After many so-called extraction activities, including wiggling the wheels and rotating them very slowly, NASA scientists have decided to stop … Read more

Mars rover Spirit's days may be numbered

One of NASA's seemingly immortal Mars rovers might soon be at the end of its days.

The Spirit rover had been cruising around the Red Planet, along with its companion, Opportunity, since they both arrived six years ago this month. (Spirit landed on January 3, 2004, while Opportunity landed on January 24 of that year.) Their mission to send back photos and data about the Martian surface was expected to last a mere 90 days. Instead, the two traveling research bots blew away all expectations, continuing their treks year after year.

However, scientists warn that Spirit's most recent … Read more

NASA releases 3D photo collections of space station, Mars rover

NASA said on Thursday that it has released a collection of 3D photographs of the International Space Station and its Mars rover.

The photos, which were created using Microsoft's Photosynth tool, show both internal and external views of the space station, as well as a model of the rover.

Because the images were prepared using Photosynth, users can zoom in or out of any of the images, allowing them to see "details of the space station's modules and solar arrays or...a more global view of the complex."

At the same time, the Mars rover images … Read more

Google Earth adds Mars roving

While you might never become an astronaut and have the chance to ride a Mars Rover on the Red Planet, Google has now rolled out an Earth-bound alternative for the masses.

With Google Earth 5.0, which was unveiled Monday, users can now explore Mars in the same way they've been able to instantly view 3D images of much of our own home planet for several years in previous versions of the software.

The Mars project, which was implemented in conjunction with NASA, is intended both for casual investigation of our planetary next-door neighbor, as well as serious research. NASA and Google hope scientists and other researchers will use the new Google Earth Mars feature to share data about the fourth rock from the sun.

"The mode enables users to fly virtually through enormous canyons and scale huge mountains on Mars that are much larger than any found on Earth," NASA said in a statement. "Users also can explore the Red Planet through the eyes of the Mars rovers and other Mars missions, providing a unique perspective of the entire planet."

Additionally, the new Mars features allows Google Earth users to view much of the most recent satellite imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, as well as other craft circling the planet. And users are able to add their own generally sharable 3D content to the larger map of Mars. … Read more