Mars Rover has 1st Birthday (1 Viewer)

[KeithAP]

To be honest, I had forgotten about the Mars Rover . It is still up there doing it's thing.

-Keith

 

[Jack Briggs]

That would be they are still there doing their thing. Two robots (the twin Rovers) are exploring Mars on the surface, while another three spacecraft are orbiting the planet.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

While I had not forgotten, I am still in awe..... Congrats to JPL/NASA/etc !!!!!

I wish my old T-Bird was that reliable !!!!

 

[BrianShort]

1 year ago, I surely never would have expected to still see both rovers still going at it today. I won't be surprised if we still see Opportunity at least operating 6 months or more from now. Not sure about Spirit, since it's being more affected by the dust than Opportunity has been.

There's a show on NOVA tonight about the rovers, and a behind the scenes look at the team that's operated them. I'll have to record it, but it looks pretty interesting.

 

[Seth_L]

And NOVA is in HD so it's even worth watching

 

[BrianW]

I enjoyed reading this article this morning:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6762529/

It actually warmed my heart to hear a rover scientist speak about his remarkable machines so affectionately.

Some memorable quotes:
Any bets on whether "luck" will keep these rovers together for another year?

 

[Dave Poehlman]

To be honest, I can't believe it's been a year already! Wow.. what have I been doing all this time?

 

[BrianShort]

http://www.msss.com/press_releases/mslselection/
http://www.msss.com/msl/

Some very cool information on some of the imaging technology that will be on the 2009 Mars Science Lab mission.

Tidbits:

The main camera will feature single frame color imaging capabilities, like consumer digital cameras have today. All the color images from the MERs were created from seperate color bands, and are only approximate true color. We'll finally have true true color images, so maybe some people will stop arguing about the TRUE color of Mars

The main camera will also have lenses with a 10:1 zoom ratio.

The coolest feature is the main camera will also be able to capture 10fps high def video, in color!

James Cameron is one of the co-investigators on the main camera.

The decent imager will also be able to take high res video of the descent and landing, in addition to still images.

The rover will probably be nucler, and should have an estimated 2 Earth year lifespan.

There will be at least one rover, but there is a chance there could be twin rovers.

Can't wait for this mission. High def video from the surface of Mars! Killer!

Brian