MERGED: Curiosity Mars Rover: UPDATES and RELATED STORIES

[rodsky]

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Complete Coverage: NASA's Huge New Rover Launching to Mars | Mars Science Laboratory & Curiosity Rover | NASA Mars Missions & Mars Exploration | Space.com

Although landing is still 9 months away, I'm very anxious with the new method of lowering the rover down on the Martian surface--murag kuyaw.

UPDATE: MSL E-D-L (entry, descent and landing) countdown to landing day! Mars Rover Curiosity Landing Countdown Clock | CountingDownTo.com

-RODION

[gamemailxxx]

May unta HD na ang video ani. 9 months murag dali ra tingali na howaton kay ang panahon mura ug kusog na mo dagan due to our busy life.

[rodsky]

Just took off a few hours ago

Mars Rover Curiosity Takes Off - NASA Science

Byebye Curiosity! Now the waiting begins.

-RODION

[ghostie2472]

I do hope this one doesn't encounter any technical problems unlike the other one that got stuck on Earth's orbit. I also hope they attached an HD camera on that rover. It's funny governments spend millions of dollars on these things and forget to add and HD camera or video recorder.

[rodsky]

I do hope this one doesn't encounter any technical problems unlike the other one that got stuck on Earth's orbit. I also hope they attached an HD camera on that rover. It's funny governments spend millions of dollars on these things and forget to add and HD camera or video recorder.

The ordinary person is very biased towards VISIBLE LIGHT, when in fact, in data gathering and analysis, other wavelengths of light are also useful. Thus, the cameras these probes carry aren't biased towards "HD visible light" but are also sensitive in infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

If you look at this chart of LIGHT:

Ang VISIBLE light intawon (rainbow bands) comprise only a very very narrow portion of the entire spectrum. Much more information can be gleaned and analyzed from the "invisible" wavelengths of light. Hence, if you didn't know it, radio waves are also light waves, pero long wavelength ra, mao nga dili nimo makit-an ang radio waves nga ga-travel across the sky. Same with X-Rays, gamma rays, etc.

-RODION

[ghostie2472]

The ordinary person is very biased towards VISIBLE LIGHT, when in fact, in data gathering and analysis, other wavelengths of light are also useful. Thus, the cameras these probes carry aren't biased towards "HD visible light" but are also sensitive in infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.

If you look at this chart of LIGHT:

Ang VISIBLE light intawon (rainbow bands) comprise only a very very narrow portion of the entire spectrum. Much more information can be gleaned and analyzed from the "invisible" wavelengths of light. Hence, if you didn't know it, radio waves are also light waves, pero long wavelength ra, mao nga dili nimo makit-an ang radio waves nga ga-travel across the sky. Same with X-Rays, gamma rays, etc.

-RODION

Thank you but I know about the light chart. As an ordinary person, I have mentioned HD camera / video recorder because not so many ordinary people like me are really that interested in viewing infrared and ultraviolet images of rocks or landscapes in Mars.

But it's good to know that they have multiple cameras for visible lights and other light spectrum as well.

10 Amazing Things NASA's Huge Mars Rover Can Do | NASA, Mars Science Laboratory & Curiosity Rover | Mars & Mars Exploration | Space.com

[rodsky]

Thank you but I know about the light chart. As an ordinary person, I have mentioned HD camera / video recorder because not so many ordinary people like me are really that interested in viewing infrared and ultraviolet images of rocks or landscapes in Mars.

But it's good to know that they have multiple cameras for visible lights and other light spectrum as well.

10 Amazing Things NASA's Huge Mars Rover Can Do | NASA, Mars Science Laboratory & Curiosity Rover | Mars & Mars Exploration | Space.com

A space probe/lander has this current rule of thumb (because we all live in a monetary system based society): "The heavier it is, the more expensive it will be. The larger this weight value is, the steeper the expense slope if even a tiny mass is added." If scientists would require certain instruments that don't show "breathtaking" or "glamorous" photos or videos, and instead focus more on science, then the lander/rover engineers would indeed design a machine that would only focus more on the science objectives of the work, for if the consequence of adding yet another HD camera to the stack means that it would increase cost by a factor of 4, then it's not worth it. Unless the PRIME objective of the mission is indeed to take HI DEFINITION pictures and videos (a good example of this is the Japanese Kaguya moon orbiter, it was specifically designed to take HD photos and videos of the lunar surface SELENE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ), then the option to take an HD camera with the lander/probe/rover is out of the question.

It's true, however, that the general public would support a space program (it's their taxes after all) more, if they can appreciate such endeavors from their level/vantage point by being able to view beautiful HD photos or videos of the Martian surface via such a lander or rover, but our current economic system on planet Earth dictates that we priorities WHY we send probes into such remote locations in the first place (the scientific investigation), rather than merely capturing images and videos there just for the sake of beauty or appreciation. Perhaps one day, when HD imaging technology becomes superlight (and data transfer algorithms are much more efficient, read my "sidebar" below), this will already be a norm among spaceprobes.


SIDEBAR DISCUSSION: Data Sizes and Data Transfer/Compression Algorithms: Why HD images in Space Can Present Transmission Problems

People usually forget that space is vast and immense. For instance, consider the following:
In order to calculate the time of travel with this speed from Earth to Mars, we need to know the distance. When the Mars and the Earth are at the opposite sides of the Sun, the distance is the largest: approximately: 378 million km. The time needed for an electromagnetic wave to cover this distance is approximately 21 minutes. The closest distance between Mars and Earth is 78 million km, the time in this case 4.3 mins So the time of travel between Earth and Mars is between 4.3 minutes and 21 minutes, depending on the actual distance between the two planets. (Ferenc Szekely, Ph.D., Physicist, ELTE, Budapest, Hungary)

Thus, considering this enormous distance, you need a very efficient way to store the HD image data, and stream/transmit it from Mars to get to the earth. If there is a delay in minutes, and the signal is intermittent, or the data compression algorithm was buggy, then you'd have really bad results with the HD images. This is why photos from Mars, taken by earlier Martian surface probes such as Viking and Pathfinder, and even the two Rovers, sent their data in thin strips/lines--it was the most efficient and reliable means to transmit that data in that amount of distance, considering the delay due to the speed of light. And their low-resolution quality was actually a plus--you didn't need much compression because the images are low-res anyways, so they occupy only a few bits of memory to store and transmit. Now, imagine sending megabytes (or even gigabytes) of data from those probes..."live" streaming is even out of the question--beyond the moon, you can never have "live" footage of anything in space, due to the limitations of the speed of light--every broadcast is a DELAYED broadcast, and the farther you are from the Earth, the greater the delay.

So hopefully you now see why it is challenging to bring (currently available) high fidelity or high definition imaging or video recording systems. If data compression algorithms become more efficient, then this problem would perhaps be solved.

-RODION

EDIT: BTW, have you actually seen currently available Mars images taken by the MRO / Odyssey orbiters and the Spirit Opportunity rovers?

A good example, Endurance crater panorama: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...sEndurance.jpg

Or here's Victoria crater panorama: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Verde-Mars.jpg

See? The resolution of this image of Endurance crater (granted, it's a panorama, but nonetheless you understand my point here), is a LOT better than HD, even.

[rodsky]

UPDATE: MSL E-D-L (entry, descent and landing) is only seven days away! Mars Rover Curiosity Landing Countdown Clock | CountingDownTo.com




-RODION

[aldrin89]

we are waiting for this, wooohooo.. hapit na

[aldrin89]

Ready nasad ang Mars Odyssey
NASA - Mars Orbiter Repositioned to Phone Home Mars Landing