{"id":8487,"date":"2014-08-06T01:06:03","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T05:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8487"},"modified":"2014-08-06T01:06:03","modified_gmt":"2014-08-06T05:06:03","slug":"curiosity-rover-two-years-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8487","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity rover &#8211; Two years on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a brief video\u00a0from NASA JPL about the status of the <a href=\"http:\/\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\/\" target=\"_blank\">Curiosity Rover<\/a> two years after it landing on Mars:\u00a0\u00a0<em>Curiosity Rover Report (Aug. 5, 2014): A Softer Trek to Mount Sharp<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>On the second anniversary of landing, NASA&#8217;s Curiosity rover on Mars is preparing to navigate through a series of sandy valleys on its way to Mount Sharp. The base of Mount Sharp sits 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the rover&#8217;s current position.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g7wX-feyWac?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>And here is a release from NASA about the anniversary:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?release=2014-262\" target=\"_d\">NASA Mars Curiosity Rover: Two Years and Counting on Red Planet\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NASA&#8217;s most advanced roving laboratory on Mars celebrates its second anniversary since landing inside the Red Planet&#8217;s Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (Aug. 6, 2012, EDT).<\/p>\n<p>During its first year of operations, the Curiosity rover fulfilled its major science goal of determining whether Mars ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Clay-bearing sedimentary rocks on the crater floor in an area called Yellowknife Bay yielded evidence of a lakebed environment billions of years ago that offered fresh water, all of the key elemental ingredients for life, and a chemical source of energy for microbes, if any existed there.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/images\/msl\/20140805\/pia18590-640.jpg\" alt=\"Curiosity Tracks in 'Hidden Valley' on Mars\" width=\"490\" height=\"268\" border=\"0\" \/><em>This image from the Navigation Camera on NASA&#8217;s Curiosity Mars rover <\/em><br \/>\n<em>shows wheel tracks printed by the rover as it drove on the sandy floor<\/em><br \/>\n<em> of a lowland called &#8220;Hidden Valley&#8221; on the route toward Mount Sharp. <\/em><br \/>\n<em>The image was taken on Aug. 4, 2014.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/spaceimages\/details.php?id=pia18590\">\u203a Full image and caption<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Before landing, we expected that we would need to drive much farther before answering that habitability question,&#8221; said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. &#8220;We were able to take advantage of landing very close to an ancient streambed and lake. Now we want to learn more about how environmental conditions on Mars evolved, and we know where to go to do that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During its second year, Curiosity has been driving toward long-term science destinations on lower slopes of Mount Sharp. Those destinations are in an area beginning about 2 miles (3 kilometers) southwest of the rover&#8217;s current location, but an appetizer outcrop of a base layer of the mountain lies much closer &#8212; less than one-third of a mile (500 meters) from Curiosity. The rover team is calling the outcrop &#8220;Pahrump Hills.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For about half of July, the rover team at NASA&#8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, drove Curiosity across an area of hazardous sharp rocks on Mars called &#8220;Zabriskie Plateau.&#8221; Damage to Curiosity&#8217;s aluminum wheels from driving across similar terrain last year prompted a change in route, with the plan of skirting such rock-studded terrain wherever feasible. The one-eighth mile (200 meters) across Zabriskie Plateau was one of the longest stretches without a suitable detour on the redesigned route toward the long-term science destination.<\/p>\n<p>Another recent challenge appeared last week in the form of unexpected behavior by an onboard computer currently serving as backup. Curiosity carries duplicate main computers. It has been operating on its B-side computer since a problem with the A-side computer prompted the team to command a side swap in February 2013. Work in subsequent weeks of 2013 restored availability of the A-side as a backup in case of B-side trouble. In July, fresh commanding of the rover was suspended for two days while engineers confirmed that the A-side computer remains reliable as a backup.<\/p>\n<p>To help prepare for future human missions to Mars, Curiosity incudes a radiation detector to measure the environment astronauts will encounter on a round-trip between Earth and the Martian surface. The data are consistent with earlier predictions and will help NASA scientists and engineers develop new technologies to protect astronauts in deep space.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, a Mars lander mission called InSight will launch to take the first look into the deep interior of Mars. The agency also is participating in the European Space Agency&#8217;s (ESA&#8217;s) 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing &#8220;Electra&#8221; telecommunication radios to ESA&#8217;s 2016 orbiter and a critical element of the astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, NASA recently announced that its next rover going to Mars in 2020 will carry seven carefully selected instruments to conduct unprecedented investigations in science and technology, as well as capabilities needed for humans to pioneer the Red Planet.<\/p>\n<p>Based on the design of the highly successful Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, the new rover will carry more sophisticated, upgraded hardware and new instruments to conduct geological assessments of the rover&#8217;s landing site, determine the potential habitability of the environment, and directly search for signs of ancient Martian life.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists will use the Mars 2020 rover to identify and select a collection of rock and soil samples that will be stored for potential return to Earth by a future mission. The Mars 2020 mission is responsive to the science objectives recommended by the National Research Council&#8217;s 2011 Planetary Science Decadal Survey.<\/p>\n<p>The Mars 2020 rover will help further advance our knowledge of how future human explorers could use natural resources available on the surface of the Red Planet. An ability to live off the Martian land would transform future exploration of the planet. Designers of future human expeditions can use this mission to understand the hazards posed by Martian dust and demonstrate technology to process carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce oxygen. These experiments will help engineers learn how to use Martian resources to produce oxygen for human respiration and potentially as an oxidizer for rocket fuel.<\/p>\n<p>The Mars 2020 rover is part of the agency&#8217;s Mars Exploration Program, which includes the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, the Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft currently orbiting the planet, and the MAVEN orbiter, which is set to arrive at the Red Planet in September and will study the Martian upper atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>NASA&#8217;s Mars Exploration Program seeks to characterize and understand Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment, climate cycles, geology and biological potential. In parallel, NASA is developing the human spaceflight capabilities needed for future round-trip missions to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>Follow our progress on NASA&#8217;s Journey to Mars at:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/exploration\">www.nasa.gov\/exploration<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mars\">www.nasa.gov\/mars<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more information about Curiosity, visit:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/msl\">http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/msl<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\">http:\/\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #4b5c68;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a brief video\u00a0from NASA JPL about the status of the Curiosity Rover two years after it landing on Mars:\u00a0\u00a0Curiosity Rover Report (Aug. 5, 2014): A Softer Trek to Mount Sharp On the second anniversary of landing, NASA&#8217;s Curiosity rover on Mars is preparing to navigate through a series of sandy valleys on its way &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8487\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Curiosity rover &#8211; Two years on Mars<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,13,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mars","category-space-science","category-spacecasts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2cT","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3768,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=3768","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":0},"title":"Curiosity Rover nears one year anniversary of Mars landing","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"August 6th will mark one year since\u00a0 Curiosity rover (Mars Science Laboratory) landed on the Red Planet. JPL will be holding special events each day this week to mark the landing and the accomplishments of the past year: Celebrate Your Curiosity: Anniversary Week Activities http:\/\/youtu.be\/Mt20kTRV-_M \u00a0NASA's Curiosity Nearing First Anniversary\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curiosity Sol 343 Vista With 'Twin Cairns' on Route to Mount Sharp","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\/images\/pia17083_M100-Sol343_WB-fi.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12989,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=12989","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":1},"title":"NASA rover game released to mark Curiosity&#8217;s 4 year anniversary on Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out NASA's free Rover Game: NASA Rover Game Released for Curiosity\u2019s Anniversary As Curiosity marks its fourth anniversary (in Earth years) since landing on Mars, the rover is working on collecting its 17th sample. While Curiosity explores Mars, gamers can join the fun via a new social media game,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Contests and Games&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Contests and Games","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"mars-rover-gamee-screenshot[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/mars-rover-gamee-screenshot1.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13070,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13070","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":2},"title":"Explore Mars in 360-degree panorama sent from the Curiosity rover","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an interactive 360 degree panorama of the scenery that recently surrounded NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover: Explore this Mars panorama by moving the view with your mouse or mobile device. This 360-degree panorama was acquired on Aug. 5, 2016, by the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"mars-rover-mount-sharp-boulders-PIA20836-br2[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/mars-rover-mount-sharp-boulders-PIA20836-br21-1024x553.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14717,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14717","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":3},"title":"Videos: Curiosity marks five years searching for clues to Mars early history","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"NASA JPL highlights the five year anniversary of the Curiosity Rover's arrival on Mars with a set of videos about the mission so far: Five Years Ago and 154 Million Miles Away: Touchdown! NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, which landed near Mount Sharp five years ago this week, is examining clues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/pia21716-161-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8798,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=8798","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":4},"title":"Curiosity rover update &#8211; Arrives at Mount Sharp","author":"TopSpacer","date":"September 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest video Curiosity Rover Report from NASA JPL: We made it! Curiosity reaches Mount Sharp (Sept 11, 2014) http:\/\/youtu.be\/7szg3JrNT-4 And here is a text report from NASA JPL on Curiosity's plans: NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Arrives at Martian Mountain NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has reached the Red Planet's Mount\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"PIA18475_ip[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/PIA18475_ip1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9199,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9199","url_meta":{"origin":8487,"position":5},"title":"The Mars Curiosity rover confirms orbiter&#8217;s surface mineral identification","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Curiosity rover confirms that\u00a0the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter\u00a0really can\u00a0identify a\u00a0mineral on the ground: NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Finds Mineral Match Reddish rock powder from the first hole drilled into a Martian mountain by NASA's Curiosity rover has yielded the mission's first confirmation of a mineral mapped from orbit. This image\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"PIA19036_ip[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/PIA19036_ip1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8488,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8487\/revisions\/8488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}