[meteorite-list] Curiosity Update - August 8, 2012

[MexicoDoug]

Is that a USA flag on Curiosity's back bumper, just out of the field of 
view (Where a kid friendly cartoon sketch of curiosity accompanies its 
name in outlined visually friendly font?)  Is this the first mission 
that is a flagless ship or is it stowed away somewhere?

The new high resolution photos are just getting spectacular.  You can 
see how crisply "JPL" and "NASA" trumpets their logos (You didn't build 
this ... we did!), not to mention the treads having JPL printing its 
letters on each of the six wheels wherever it rolls mile after mile and 
kilometer aftwer kilometer we hope ;-).  Really gives a smirk of geek 
satisfaction!

But that symbolic gesture to the Stars and Bars so far is notably 
bsent, surprisingly, considering who footed the $2.6 dollar bill for 
such a feat that only is second to the Apollo Lunar Landings!

Kindest wishes
Doug
PS, the US flags on the Moon have all become bleached white flags....




-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Baalke <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
To: Meteorite Mailing List <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thu, Aug 9, 2012 3:56 pm
Subject: [meteorite-list] Curiosity Update - August 8, 2012



http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1298

Curiosity Continues Checking Herself Out; Takes Self Portrait
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
August 8, 2012

After waking up to the rousing refrains of the Beatles' "Good
Morning Good Morning," a healthy Curiosity continued checking out her
systems and returning amazing imagery. The Sol 2 morning and afternoon
UHF communications passes from NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars 
Reconnaissance
Orbiter spacecraft provided significant new data, including spectacular
full-frame images of the Mars Science Laboratory's descent through the
Martian atmosphere by Curiosity's Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) 
instrument.
Other imagery included full-frame views from the rover's navigation 
cameras,
or Navcams, looking at the rim of Gale Crater; the first, 
lower-resolution
thumbnail 360-degree view of Curiosity's new surroundings in Gale 
Crater;
deck pan images of the rover herself; and images of the Martian surface
next to the rover. Another image set, courtesy of the Context Camera,
or CTX, aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has pinpointed the
final resting spots of the six, 55-pound (25-kilogram) entry ballast 
masses.
These tungsten masses impacted the Martian surface at high speed, about
7.5 miles (12 kilometers) from Curiosity's landing location.

The rover's high-gain antenna was successfully pointed toward Earth. 
Its
3.6-foot-tall (1.1-meter) remote sensing mast was deployed, and range 
of
motion was successfully tested. Surface radiation data were acquired 
from
the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument but have not yet 
been
downlinked. Curiosity's temperatures are running a bit warmer than
expected; however, the flight team believes this is because Gale Crater
is simply a bit warmer than originally predicted.

Plans for Sol 3 include assessing the performance
of the high-gain antenna; uplinking files for the upcoming transition
of Curiosity's flight software to the surface-optimized version R10 on
Sol 5; Radiation Assessment Detector instrument observations; and 
Mastcam
calibration target and 360-degree color panorama images. In addition,
the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), Chemistry & 
Mineralogy
Analyzer (CheMin), Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), and Dynamic Albedo 
Neutrons
(DAN) instruments will be checked out.

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