Video Stream: Curiosity on Track for Weekend Mars Landing - Media Events

Update: First Mars Images from (and of) Curiosity Rover

[Curiosity Closes in on its New 'Home'
Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:20:24 AM GMT+1200
With Mars looming ever larger in front of it, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft and its Curiosity rover are in the final stages of preparing for entry, descent and landing on the Red Planet at 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6). Curiosity remains in good health with all systems operating as expected. Today, the flight team uplinked and confirmed commands to make minor corrections to the spacecraft's navigation reference point parameters. This afternoon, as part of the onboard sequence of autonomous activities leading to the landing, catalyst bed heaters are being turned on to prepare the eight Mars Lander Engines that are part of MSL's descent propulsion system. As of 2:25 p.m. PDT (5:25 p.m. EDT), MSL was approximately 261,000 miles (420,039 kilometers) from Mars, closing in at a little more than 8,000 mph (about 3,600 meters per second).]

[MSL Remains on Track for Weekend Landing
Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:22:02 AM GMT+1200
Curiosity remains in good health, with no significant issues currently in work. There are no real-time activities planned today. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft remains on a consistent and stable course, well within the limits required to reach its target landing ellipse. As a result, yesterday the flight team decided to cancel the build and test of a contingency version of Trajectory Correction Maneuver 5. This contingency manuever, had it been needed, would have been used in the event an emergency prevented the team from executing the nominal scheduled TCM-5 maneuver, which is planned for Friday, Aug. 3, if needed. The project also canceled a corresponding update to parameters for the autonomous software controlling events during entry, descent and landing.]

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Curiosity - Robot Geologist and Chemist in One!
This artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life.
Curiosity will land near the Martian equator about 10:31 p.m., Aug. 5 PDT (1:31 a.m. Aug. 6 EDT) [5:31 p.m. Aug. 6 NZT].
In this picture, the rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools at the end of the rover's arm, which extends about 7 feet (2 meters). Two instruments on the arm can study rocks up close. A drill can collect sample material from inside of rocks and a scoop can pick up samples of soil. The arm can sieve the samples and deliver fine powder to instruments inside the rover for thorough analysis.
The mast, or rover's "head," rises to about 6.9 feet (2.1 meters) above ground level, about as tall as a basketball player. This mast supports two remote-sensing science instruments: the Mast Camera, or "eyes," for stereo color viewing of surrounding terrain and material collected by the arm; and, the Chemistry and Camera instrument, which uses a laser to vaporize a speck of material on rocks up to about 23 feet (7 meters) away and determines what elements the rocks are made of.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
For more information about Curiosity is at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA Announces News Activities for Mars Landing
Updated Aug. 1, 2012 - 6:42pm PDT

PASADENA, Calif. – The public is invited to tune in for a series of news briefings from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for the upcoming landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission will deliver the nearly 2,000-pound (1-ton), car-size robotic roving laboratory to the surface of Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) [5:31 p.m. Aug. 6 NZT]. Curiosity's landing will mark the start of a two-year prime mission to investigate whether one of the most intriguing places on Mars ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

News Briefing and Televised Event Schedule

News briefings will be held at JPL beginning Thursday, Aug. 2, and carried live on NASA Television. Additional events, including a NASA Social Media event Aug. 1 and landing commentary Aug. 5, will be televised. A full schedule of live news briefings is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntvnews and http://www.nasa.gov/msl .

The schedule of events below is subject to change. All times are PDT [NZT -19 hrs].
Thursday, Aug. 2
-- 10 a.m. - Mission Science Overview News Briefing
-- 11 a.m. - Mission Engineering Overview News Briefing

Friday, Aug. 3
-- 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. - NASA Social

Saturday, Aug. 4
-- 9:30 a.m. - Prelanding Update and Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) Overview News Briefing

Sunday, Aug. 5
-- 9:30 a.m. - Final Prelanding Update News Briefing
-- 3 p.m. - NASA Science News Briefing
-- 8:30 p.m. to about 11 p.m. - Landing Commentary No. 1
-- No earlier than 11:15 p.m. - Post-landing News Briefing

Monday, Aug. 6
-- 12:30 to 1:30 a.m. - Landing Commentary No. 2
-- 9 a.m. - Landing Recap News Briefing
-- 4 p.m. - Possible New Images News Briefing

Tuesday, Aug. 7
-- 10 a.m. - News Briefing

Wednesday, Aug. 8
-- 10 a.m. - News Briefing

Thursday, Aug. 9
-- 10 a.m. - News Briefing

Friday, Aug. 10
-- 10 a.m. (tentative) - News Briefing
For information on how to watch NASA TV, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv . The televised events will also be streamed live online at: http://www.Ustream.tv/nasa .

NASA Television Commentary Feeds

Two live feeds during key landing activities from mission control at JPL will be carried on NASA TV and on the Web from 8:30 to 11 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 [3.30 to 6pm Aug 6 NZT], and from 12:30 to 1:30 a.m. PDT Aug. 6 [7.30 to 8.30pm NZT]. The NASA TV Public Channel and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl will carry a feed including commentary and interviews.
The NASA TV Media Channel and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2 will carry an uninterrupted, clean feed with only mission audio.

Online Information

Extensive information on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, including an electronic copy of the press kit, news releases, fact sheets, status reports, briefing schedule and images, is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/msl .
For more information about NASA's Mars program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mars .
The public can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .
The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA.

ENDS

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