5 ms·

Curiosity Mars Rover Landing Timeline: What to Expect Tonight

102 points by eguizzo 14y ago

ChuckMcM 14y ago
... and 14 minutes later we know the outcome. I've not been this excited/worried/thrilled/paniced about a space mission for a while. :-)
- ramidarigaz 14y ago
  I have proper butterflies in my stomach right now. I hope nothing goes wrong...
- kellishaver 14y ago
  I'm very excited/nervous. I haven't felt this way about a space mission in a long time. My daughter (she's 10) made me promise to wake her up for it.
- sp332 14y ago
  Actually, it might take a lot longer than that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7p08hcQzs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7p08hcQzs
ajays 14y ago
Will the PBS stations broadcast this event live? Or will I have to depend on the Internet gods and stream from ustream.tv?
- skarip 14y ago
  Not sure about PBS tonight but I'm going to be watching direct from NASA: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/
  - guelo 14y ago
    This link looks more live, http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html
  - Wingman4l7 14y ago
    I noticed on the NASA TV schedule that the "Public/Education Channels" have commentary, and that the "Media Channel" has a "Clean Feed with Mission Audio Only". The link given is for the public stream (http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv); the media stream is here (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-media-channel http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-media-channel) and should be HD as well.
- trafficlight 14y ago
  There's a live blog plus the ustream here: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html It's starting to get a little bogged down though.
ramidarigaz 14y ago
My workplace is hosting a landing party. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for something!
sage_joch 14y ago
I don't remember this much excitement over the 2004 landings. This is pure speculation, but I would like to think the Internet is partly responsible for this shift. It provides a more democratic way of deciding (as a culture) what is important and newsworthy.
- freehunter 14y ago
  There's that, and also that this is a pretty interesting landing compared to previous landing methods. There's been a lot of hype over just the landing gear. I've got non-techie friends who are tuning in just to see the engineering feat.
- joering2 14y ago
  I find myself more excited because of the complexity of this task. 7 minutes of terror? Rockets fighting Gs while crane is lowering the vehicle down? All done by computer with none help from humans (as you know in flying computers are awesome at straight flying (autopilot) but horrible on landing, something here seems to be all about). Looking forward seeing this mission succeed. And wouldn't be surprise to see some of those grownup man at the cockpit letting some loose. I know if I was in charge of this mission, I would pee all over myself, if succeed!
waterlesscloud 14y ago
What are we really going to see tonight? I assume statuses? Video isn't possible, even delayed. And I suspect photos will be delayed for processing?
- halefx 14y ago
  http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/msl-when-well-see-the-first-images-from-the-surface http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-softwar... Looks like we might not see any images until about 3:30 EDT
6ren 14y ago
"If you are watching from a mobile device or slower connection, watch the Mobile Feed for NASA Television Here" http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-mobile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-mobile (but it's off air right now) Actually, the HD channel has a 240p option (see "best" on the toolbar), which works fine for me http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html
emeraldd 14y ago
And they just announced touch down!

102 points by eguizzo 14y ago

... and 14 minutes later we know the outcome. I've not been this excited/worried/thrilled/paniced about a space mission for a while. :-)

ramidarigaz 14y ago
I have proper butterflies in my stomach right now. I hope nothing goes wrong...
kellishaver 14y ago
I'm very excited/nervous. I haven't felt this way about a space mission in a long time. My daughter (she's 10) made me promise to wake her up for it.
sp332 14y ago
Actually, it might take a lot longer than that! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7p08hcQzs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t7p08hcQzs

ajays 14y ago

Will the PBS stations broadcast this event live? Or will I have to depend on the Internet gods and stream from ustream.tv?

skarip 14y ago
Not sure about PBS tonight but I'm going to be watching direct from NASA: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/nasatv/
- guelo 14y ago
  This link looks more live, http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html
- Wingman4l7 14y ago
  I noticed on the NASA TV schedule that the "Public/Education Channels" have commentary, and that the "Media Channel" has a "Clean Feed with Mission Audio Only". The link given is for the public stream (http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv http://www.ustream.tv/nasahdtv); the media stream is here (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-media-channel http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-media-channel) and should be HD as well.
trafficlight 14y ago
There's a live blog plus the ustream here: http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/msl/status.html It's starting to get a little bogged down though.

ramidarigaz 14y ago

My workplace is hosting a landing party. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for something!

sage_joch 14y ago

I don't remember this much excitement over the 2004 landings. This is pure speculation, but I would like to think the Internet is partly responsible for this shift. It provides a more democratic way of deciding (as a culture) what is important and newsworthy.

freehunter 14y ago
There's that, and also that this is a pretty interesting landing compared to previous landing methods. There's been a lot of hype over just the landing gear. I've got non-techie friends who are tuning in just to see the engineering feat.
joering2 14y ago
I find myself more excited because of the complexity of this task. 7 minutes of terror? Rockets fighting Gs while crane is lowering the vehicle down? All done by computer with none help from humans (as you know in flying computers are awesome at straight flying (autopilot) but horrible on landing, something here seems to be all about). Looking forward seeing this mission succeed. And wouldn't be surprise to see some of those grownup man at the cockpit letting some loose. I know if I was in charge of this mission, I would pee all over myself, if succeed!

waterlesscloud 14y ago

What are we really going to see tonight? I assume statuses? Video isn't possible, even delayed. And I suspect photos will be delayed for processing?

halefx 14y ago
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/msl-when-well-see-the-first-images-from-the-surface http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-softwar... Looks like we might not see any images until about 3:30 EDT

6ren 14y ago

"If you are watching from a mobile device or slower connection, watch the Mobile Feed for NASA Television Here" http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-mobile http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-mobile (but it's off air right now) Actually, the HD channel has a 240p option (see "best" on the toolbar), which works fine for me http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html

emeraldd 14y ago

And they just announced touch down!