NASA photographs split second when Curiosity enters Mars airspace

Fox news ^ | August 6, 2012 | Foxnews

[Vince Ferrer]

Thanks to a remarkable combination of engineering and mathematics, a NASA satellite in orbit around Mars was able to capture this picture of the split second when Curiosity fell from the skies to its successful landing on the surface of the red planet.

[Vince Ferrer]

[cripplecreek]

That’s pretty damn cool I don’t care who you are.

[the invisib1e hand]

Thanks to a remarkable combination of engineering and mathematics

[brivette]

remarkable. Hope they find something of interest.

[EGPWS]

How long before we see a political ad explaining 0bamas single handed trip to Mars?

[Jyotishi]

Obama may retire there after November.

[South40]

Great pic!

The NASA gallery with more pics can be found here.

[DoughtyOne]

I’d contribute to send him there on a one way ticket.

No parachute though. Sorry, I can only afford so much.

All we need is an orbiter capable of spitting him out.

[Balding_Eagle]

I honestly didn’t think NASA could pull it off anymore. I’m so pleased to be wrong.

[JusPasenThru]

For sure. I for one am proud of America on this one.

[DoughtyOne]

Well I don’t care who you are either, but I agree with you.

;^)

[ZinGirl]

[Le Chien Rouge]

If we had not spent so much money on LBJ’s Great Society programs(black reparations), we would be landing MEN on Mars.

Great Photo.

[eddie willers]

I honestly didn’t think NASA could pull it off anymore.

I didn't think it would be able to pull off the Sky Crane, powered fight part.

Happy to say...."I was wrong"!

[cripplecreek]

The Dawn Spacecraft is due to leave asteroid Vesta soon and will be heading for Ceres.

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/

Juno still has at least a year to its destination orbiting Jupiter.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/juno/main/index.html

I personally am most looking forward to the New Horizons flyby of Pluto in 2015.

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/

[Charles Martel]

That’s pretty damn cool I don’t care who you are.

Indeed it is. Seeing that rocket-powered flying sky crane landing system operate flawlessly the first time out more than makes up for the metric mishap that killed an earlier lander.

[F15Eagle]

Very curious, this Curiosity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwxc_zLH560

[F15Eagle]

You might get a laugh out of this

[kingu]

JPL’s known for some pretty hair brained ideas, that have a tenancy to not only be thinking outside the box, but actually work as well. Am I surprised that the skycrane worked? No. Or the parachute? No.

Am I dumbfounded in awe at being able to hit the all time smallest bullseye? Absolutely. Yeah, the rest of the stuff was cool, relaying stuff through satellites, taking pictures of Curiosity after parachute deployment - all pretty nifty. But even hurling a smart bullet to hit their injection window of just a few miles across while travelling over 12,000 miles an hour? That's over 3 miles a second.

Miss that, it doesn't matter what whizbang stuff you've got stowed away, it will be doing a bang up impression of the Beagle.

Now, if only they could get that stupid NASA sign off of my Caltech/JPL.

[Windcatcher]

I don’t know about that, but the usual suspects are already crawling out from under their rocks with the same 40-year-old mantra: “working poor”, “dying in the streets”, “evil companies laid them off”, “can’t pay their bills”, the usual left-wing verbal diarrhea.

[Rebelbase]

Just don’t let Wallowitz drive it.

[Windcatcher]

The drama queens are already coming out about how terrible this is.

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/08/06/news/doc501f8c77de5b7412000855.txt

[Vince Ferrer]

If anyone hasn't seen the video animation of the complexity of this landing here it is:

Seven minutes of terror

And for comparison, here is the complexity of their last landers, Spirit and Opportunity. They were much smaller, and so could use a simpler landing system.

Rover landing on Mars

[Cyman]

” I for one am proud of America on this one.”

I have to admit that I was bursting with pride last night as I stayed up to watch it all happen.It’s a shame that we have become so enured by the whole process.

I believe it was Neil Armstrong that said not too long ago that he would welcome commanding a trip to Mars. I would love to go along!

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

Nifty engineering indeed. I recall one time that NASA spent millions of dollars in developing a ballpoint pen that would work in zero gravity environment. What did the Russian use in orbit? They used a pencil!!

Now that is known as “No Frill” engineering!

[hosepipe]

I wonder what bacteria Curiosity had ON IT.. thats now on Mars?..

[JaguarXKE]

remarkable. Hope they find something of interest.

They already have:

[Fair Paul]

Exactly, I’ve been awaiting comment from Dr. Sheldon Cooper.

[Yossarian]

I recall one time that NASA spent millions of dollars in developing a ballpoint pen that would work in zero gravity environment. What did the Russian use in orbit? They used a pencil!!

After an early point in manned space exploration, the Russians wisely went to pens as well:

Pencil lead is conductive, and so a break-off or even powdering of pencil lead can float around and cause electrical shorts, and hence fires.

A fire in space is a bad day indeed.

[Lockbox]

Where de flag??????

'where the photos of the American flag that Neil Armstrong planted on Mars?'

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

[greenhornet68]

I felt the same way. It was so good to feel proud of an American accomplishment like this. These people are brilliant scientists! What an amazing feat! I love watching the NASA briefings instead of having to watch the political BS. Thank you so much for the distractions! USA! USA! USA!

[a fool in paradise]

remarkable. Hope they find something of interest.

[JoeProBono]

[Moonman62]

I honestly didn’t think NASA could pull it off anymore. I’m so pleased to be wrong.

Politicians tend to stay away from the unmanned programs which is my theory for why they do so well.

[Moonman62]

Wow!

By comparison, a few months ago, Russia couldn't even get their Mars mission out of Earth orbit.

[usconservative]

How long before we see a political ad explaining 0bamas single handed trip to Mars?

As long as there's no return trip I don't care how much it costs to send Obama to Mars!

[COBOL2Java]

The landing was not universally applauded...

[reg45]

If we had not spent wasted so much money on LBJ’s Great Society programs(black reparations), we would be landing MEN have a permanent colony on Mars.

[Vince Ferrer]

By comparison, a few months ago, Russia couldn't even get their Mars mission out of Earth orbit.

So far only about 30% of Mars Landers have landed successfully.

[reg45]

For the first time in the last three and one half years, I am proud of the United States.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Who is that guy?

[Bernard Marx]

“Hasta la Vesta!” Ouch!!

[cripplecreek]

Sounds Ceres.

[21twelve]

Success rate for landing on Mars is about 30% (including all nations). Pretty amazing to have something this complicated work so well. It was really exciting to watch it live. My 14-year old daughter thought so too. Especially when the first photo of the wheel on Mars came back so quickly. Cool stuff.

[a fool in paradise]

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ancient-aliens

Ancient Aliens is a series of image macros based on History Channel’s TV series with the same name starring alien expert Giorgio A. Tsoukalos, who often tends to explain inexplicable phenomena as the direct result of aliens or extraterrestrials being on Earth. In a somewhat similar fashion to Bill O’Reilly’s You Can’t Explain That series, the Ancient Aliens macros exaggerate Tsoukalos’ beliefs to such an extent that they become humourous.

The still shot of Giorgio A. Tsoukalos originated from the History Channel series Ancient Aliens[1], a documentary series that explores the possibility that aliens may have visited in the past. The program is directed and produced by Giorgio A. Tsoukalos and first aired on April 20th, 2010.

[MCH]

Thanks for the link! I liked this one too. It's a picture of the mountain it will soon be off to explore.

[EQAndyBuzz]

I thought it was a character from a Saturday Night Live skit.

[Bender2]

Two things... to ponder here:

First, they release Obama's New No-Deport Immigration Policy on the same day lands on Mars-- Why... do that?

Could it be... to send a message... to Mars--

And, secondly, why did they not release... the other photo of Curiosity entering Mars airspace?

Just two things to ponder... until the martinis numb the need to think!

[Bender2]

Two things... to ponder here:

First, they release Obama's New No-Deport Immigration Policy on the same day Curiosity lands on Mars-- Why... do that?

Could it be... to send a message... to Mars--

And, secondly, why did they not release... the other photo of Curiosity entering Mars airspace?

Just two things to ponder... until the martinis numb the need to think!

[Bender2]

Gadzooks! Not another... double post?

So... sorry about that!