h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

So a NASA craft landed on Mars. And I know nothing about it. Didn't follow the news at all. Haven't looked up video of the landing. Couldn't even name the craft without looking it up.

What on Earth is wrong with me?

Stress, probably.

I have a holiday at the end of this month. Discworld Convention in Birmingham. And then a few extra days off afterwards. I'm looking forward to it. I think I need it.

TRiG.

The craft is called Curiosity. I love the whole thing of it, and searching for the possibility of Life existing outside earth. I think it will re-contextualise the whole way we look at ourselves..and might just save us all. (Effers...deluded fool....maybe? Nah )

Oh and before anyone jumps on me and says it's not actually searching for life in the present..I know...but it might show that it once likely did, but died out.

This is the animation of how it was to happen -- and it has! Quite amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwinFP8_qIM

Or maybe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwinFP8_qIM

You only have so much RAM and you can't care about all things at the same time.

Since Curiosity landed I've lost some interest in the Olympics - I just think this is far more interesting. For me it gets even more stunning when you break it down: we fired a robot at Mars at thousands of miles an hour. Nearly 9 months later, it reaches Mars and hurtles down to the Martian surface and is slowed by a parachute. Then a second robot, this one nuclear powered, pops out and is gently lowered to the surface by a hover crane (something which I previously thought only existed in sci-fi) almost precisely where we wanted it to go.

Oh and we tasked another robot we've got whizzing around Mars to take photos of the first one as it landed. The photos were of such high resolution that we can see the design of the parachute and the discarded heat shield.

There are times when humanity is unspeakably awesome. This is one of those times.

Also for the stress.

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/08/06/how-nasas-curiosity-rover-will-shoot-photos-of-mars/

Short links which explains a bit about about the photography/camera technology of the mission.

Good links at bottom to images.

Did Curiosity land on a Martian cat?

Here's one of the most amazing shots. Not only did we fling a car sized probe that far away and let it autonomously make the most complicated landing yet, we also managed to get a picture of it from another probe as it did so... in flight!

http://i.imgur.com/qDggP.jpg

Thanks, people.

Feeling better today. Also read up a bit about Curiosity in the Irish Independent over lunch.

TRiG.

I had a touch of the same recently. General loss of interest in things I'd normally be interested in, with a dollop of couldn't-be-bothered on the side. Aye, I'd recommend a holiday.

I blame the summer, or lack thereof. It feels like its been November since November!

(Icy) Ho ho.

This is truly awesome. We used to talk of a sky hook in jest.

Is that how they make Martian flatcats?

I can't look at those pictures without thinking of that HP advert of a few years back. It was just so apt!