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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ MSL _ The Martian Chroniclers

Posted by: Tom Tamlyn Apr 25 2013, 09:39 PM

The April 22 issue of the New Yorker includes http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/22/130422fa_fact_bilger by Burkhard Bilger about Curiosity. It's not pay-walled, and it does a nice job of covering both the science and engineering. There are sympathetic profiles of Adam Stelzner and John Grotzinger.

I spotted one slight misstatement (describing the landing system as “find[ing] clear ground”), although I’m sure that the other Dave, et al., will find more nits. But all-in-all, Bilger did a very good job. It's a useful resource to point to for friends who want to know what the fuss is about, as well as worth reading for its own sake.

TTT

Posted by: JohnVV Apr 26 2013, 11:57 PM

well if it did not "find" clear ground
the rockets would have cleared it
-- A mosaic of one of the landing blast patterns

https://picasaweb.google.com/102695901291398562941/MSLColorProcesed#5787081015179738226

Posted by: ToSeek Apr 29 2013, 02:51 PM

I thought the line "Forty spacecraft have been sent there, and not one has found a single fossil or living thing" was a little misleading given that only about half of them were successful enough to even have a chance to look for "a single fossil or living thing."

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 29 2013, 04:30 PM

And really only two of them ever looked for such things - the Viking landers. Even Curiosity isn't really looking for them.

Phil

Posted by: dvandorn Apr 29 2013, 05:45 PM

Curiosity isn't looking for living things, really, you're right. But any Mars lander with a camera can find an obvious fossil within the camera's field of view.

We obviously won't get into any kind of discussion as to whether or not anything in the tens of thousands of pictures returned from the Martian surface resembles a fossil -- that's so far outside of our rules here it's not even funny. Just wanted to point out that a camera will generally see what is there, and not see what's not there.

-the other Doug

Posted by: Phil Stooke Apr 29 2013, 10:28 PM

True! Though I was thinking of 'looking' with chemistry as well as cameras.

Phil

Posted by: nprev Apr 30 2013, 01:18 AM

Guys, let's please just not go here at all, alright?

Posted by: stevesliva May 5 2013, 06:24 AM

Incidentally, the cover of the magazine is pretty amusing with a 6-wheeled cameo:

Posted by: nprev May 5 2013, 06:12 PM

My stepdaughter lives in Manhattan. Time to give her a call & ask her to steal a few copies for me...