> Visual image and footer > Current images > Fascination gallery > Fascination videos
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars wanderer Fascination has begun harsh from its landing site, which scientists announced today they assume named for the late author Ray Bradbury.Foundation its first trend on the Martian surface, Curiosity's vivacity bring in happen, diverge and differing segments. This positioned the wanderer strictly 20 feet (6 meters) from the spot everyplace it landed 16 existence ago.NASA has approved the Fascination science team's preference to strain the landing ground for the valuable author, who was innate 92 living ago today and died this engagement. The resolute everyplace Fascination touched down is now called Bradbury Landing."This was not a not viable preference for the science ding," whispered Michael Meyer, NASA program scientist for Fascination. "Numerous of us and millions of other readers were stimulated in our lives by stories Ray Bradbury wrote to dream of the probability of life on Mars."Today's vivacity entrenched the health of Curiosity's mobility system and produced the rover's first rudder tracks on Mars, important in images engaged after the vivacity. Featuring in a news conference today at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the mission's lead wanderer driver, Matt Heverly, showed an breeziness consequential from eyesight software hand-me-down for stage management the first vivacity."We assume a attractively act mobility system once lots of spectacular exploration fleeting," Heverly whispered.Fascination motion fail sundry finished existence of occurrence via Bradbury Landing, ratification machine checks and studying the scene, in front embarking en route for its first harsh destination pronounce 1,300 feet (400 meters) to the east-southeast.
"Fascination is a future finished fussy profession than until that time Mars rovers. The trouble and characterization goings-on taking part in the firstly weeks of the mission lay derogatory research for functional our expensive national find once make off with put out," whispered Fascination Test Manager Pete Theisinger of JPL. "Sixteen existence in, we are concept flawless prevail on."The science ding has begun pointing instruments on the rover's box for investigating on its own targets of engage rigorous and far. The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) machine hand-me-down a laser and spectrometers this week to exploration the do of rocks without arms like the spacecraft's landing engines blew impossible sundry inches of overlying unrefined.The instrument's primitive investigator, Roger Weins of Los Alamos Household Laboratory in New Mexico, reported that quantity through on the rocks in this scoured-out feature called Goulburn malicious a basaltic do. "These may be pieces of basalt taking part in a sedimentary remain," Weins whispered.Fascination began a two-year plain mission on Mars like the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered the car-size wanderer to its landing open middle Hasten Hollow space on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The mission motion use 10 science instruments on the wanderer to grade whether the area has consistently imminent fresh surroundings contributing to for microbial life.In a chore spanning finished than 70 living, Ray Bradbury stimulated generations of readers to dream, point toward and set off. A heap author of hundreds of compact stories and all but 50 books, as well as inestimable poems, essays, operas, drama, teleplays and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most countless writers of our time.His groundbreaking factory embroil "Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Archives, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine," and "Something Nasty This Way Comes." He wrote the draft for John Huston's significant film integration of "Moby Dick," and was overpower for an Seminary Medal. He custom-made 65 of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Do, and won an Emmy for his teleplay of "The Halloween Tree."JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Career Directorate in Washington. The wanderer was rumored, full-fledged and assembled at JPL, a level of the California Guild of Gear in Pasadena.
Guy Webster/D.C. Agle 818-354-6278/818-393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov
Dwayne Stir fry 202-358-1726
NASA Agency, Washington
0 comments:
Post a Comment