Filed Under - Sci/Tech

New Mars Photos And The Best Memes (PICS)

This image shows one of the first views from NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (early morning hours Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a “fisheye” wide-angle lens on one of the rover’s Hazard-Avoidance cameras. These engineering cameras are located at the rover’s base. As planned, the early images are lower resolution. Larger color images are expected later in the week when the rover’s mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity’s Heat Shield in View
This color thumbnail image was obtained by NASA’s Curiosity rover during its descent to the surface of Mars on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The image was obtained by the Mars Descent Imager instrument known as MARDI and shows the 15-foot (4.5-meter) diameter heat shield when it was about 50 feet (16 meters) from the spacecraft. It was obtained two and one-half minutes before touching down on the surface of Mars and about three seconds after heat shield separation. It is among the first color images Curiosity sent back from Mars. The resolution of all of the MARDI frames is reduced by a factor of eight in order for them to be promptly received on Earth during this early phase of the mission. Full resolution (1,600 by 1,200 pixel) images will be returned to Earth over the next several months as Curiosity begins its scientific exploration of Mars.
The original image from MARDI has been geometrically corrected to look flat.
Curiosity landed inside of a crater known as Gale Crater.

First Photos Arrive From NASA’s New Mars Rover

Following its successful landing on the rocky surface of Mars, NASA’s new Curiosity rover began relaying images of its new surroundings just moments after touchdown.

It has been continuously broadcasting since, sending NASA snapshots of its location as it begins the slow and arduous journey through Gale Crater to Mount Sharp. There it will conduct research on the geological composition of Mars’ soil and the possibility of life’s existence on the red planet.

The $2.5 billion Curiosity survived a dangerous fall through Mars’ atmosphere early Monday morning, performing precisely as expected and hitting the ground unscathed.

It is equipped with numerous tools to examine the soil and air around Gale Crater and Mount Sharp, including 17 different cameras, lasers, a drill, a microscope and storage chambers for intriguing samples. Curiosity is expected to provide invaluable scientific data for at least two years. It joins NASA’s Opportunity rover, which has been in operation since 2004.

Mars Mission Means Memes!

Of course following the highly anticipated landing, the Internet was abuzz anticipating pictures of the Red Planet sent through space on a 14-minute delay.

As photos have arrived, some creative folks created a mélange of well-known memes with the new-but-now-iconic photos, from Dr. Who’s Tardis spacecraft to Ridley Scott’s Alien. These mars memes Photoshopped images from around the Web remind us again of the overall ingenuity of our fellow humans in the face of a monumentally historic situation.