NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Report #15 -- November 15, 2012

A NASA's Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

[AtheistRex]

Curiosity is capable of 10 fps hi-def video recording, but she has a finite power source. If the science team wanted to "entertain" you with one of those every week, it could knock it's lifetime from 20 years to 10 years. Instruments are used sparingly in the interests of longevity.

[bigxebo]

someone already already responded to that topic in the comment section. Having an antmosphere filled with gases is the basic. after that you need convection so that there are high and low pressure zones. the wind basically results from pressure differences

[matterhorn]

differences in atmospheric pressure in various areas (probably due to differences in elevation, sunlight, different heat retention in various surfaces, etc.). Air will move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, causing wind.

[TheComputerDerp]

Im Impressed By The Technolagy There Is On The Mars Curiosity.

[Blockistium]

Measures:
- Pressure
- Humidity
- Temperature
- Wind
But everything changed when the temperature nation attacked.

[nexusg]

A much needed vacation? If I worked in such a place, I'd never leave. I'd constantly be watching in awe all the live imagery from Mars.

[Shit_I_Missed.]

in the interest of the scientific community, the Rover has a constant power source, which, while finite, will not be depleted by use (the rover could use 0% power indefinitely and still run out of power at the same time if it were to use 100% power). the unused power would be lost as waste heat

[fascot]

Is there wind on mars? N what capture the far distance pictures of the rover? N my last question is what colour is the sky at mars? Reddish or still blue?

[SteeveohRising]

Let me clarify my point. To quote the video narrator:
“The Radiation Assessment Detector measures the high energy radiation coming in from the cosmic rays and the sun. That radiation is changed as it goes through Mars’ atmosphere, to where we detect it on the surface. These measurements are helping us to understand what the environment is like on the surface so that future astronauts will know how they can protect themselves from this harmful radiation.”

[KeithPatersonMBE]

Good stuff. I wish they would talk at a normal pace! But subtitles were very accurate

[Ricangal]

I notice all the recreations are in color and most of the picture they choose to release are in black and white.

[dybbuk]

why does the base of the dust devil seem so much brighter than anything around it? ...

[AtheistRex]

Yea, because the suggestion box outside NASA is no doubt filled with wondrous ideas.

[AntiMusick]

looks like they might need to launch some weather satellites over mars to study the weather patterns.

[ayanayan]

Thank you NASA. from Azerbaijan. AMAZING VIDEO

[IBMikmaq]

wish they would send another Rover to the ice cap area

[TadaGanIarracht]

That's not the whole answer. The atmosphere of Mars has temperature differences just like Earth does and this creates areas of low pressure and high pressure. The greater the difference in pressure the stronger the "pulling" of the low pressure area toward the high pressure area, this creates wind. High pressure is dense and cold, low pressure is warm and expanded (less dense)

[AtheistRex]

NASA hasn't let me down since 1958.

[RODERICKMOLASAR]

Why not another attempt at a microphone?

[FoosResearch]

What about those solar panels? Exactly how finite is the sun?