A huge NASA rover slated to land on Mars Sunday night (Aug. 5) is expected to give scientists and laypeople alike some amazing views of the Red Planet.

The 1-ton Curiosity rover, the heart of NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory mission, will try to determine if Earth's neighbor is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life. To help address this question, the six-wheeled robot is carrying 10 science instruments — and a wealth of high-tech camera gear.

Like its older Mars rover siblings Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity comes equipped with cameras mounted on a head-like stalk (called the Remote Sensing Mast, or RSM), providing a point of view similar to what a person might experience. Unlike previous rovers, however, Curiosity’s imaging system — called Mastcam — has features that will offer a whole new look at Mars.

Developed by the San Diego company Malin Space Science Systems, Mastcam is composed of two separate cameras that sit side by side, not unlike a pair of eyes, just below the ChemCam instrument on Curiosity’s "head." Mastcam will allow color images to be captured directly. [Curiosity Rover: 11 Amazing Facts]

"It will take color in the same way as a consumer digital camera,” said Michael Ravine, advanced projects manager at Malin. "It’s as 'true' as your phone camera."

In addition, Mastcam can capture stereoscopic images in infrared, plus a whole range of wavelengths that are of importance to scientific goals.

Both cameras are fixed-length; zoom motors may be common in even the cheapest point-and-shoot digital cameras, but in a spacecraft they would have added extra fuel-guzzling mass.

Still, one of the cameras has a focal length of 100 millimeters (4 inches) that can resolve objects a couple of inches across at 1,000 feet (300 meters). "I think that qualifies as telephoto," Ravine said.

Scientists no longer will have to assemble time-lapse footage from individual Mars images, for Mastcam also can take high-definition video. It will capture 720p color video at six frames per second.

"In the real world that’s not quite video, but compared to time-lapse images spaced 45 seconds apart, it’s close enough," Ravine said.

And Mastcam has the ability to store its own data. With 8 gigabytes of internal memory, Mastcam can hold 5,500 raw images, which can be compressed on the fly or just before transmission back to Earth.

Before Mastcam lets those on Earth see what Curiosity sees on its exploration, another state-of-the-art imaging system will help with a crucial part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission: the landing.

Curiosity’s "seven minutes of terror" landing sequence is the most complex Red Planet touchdown ever attempted, as the rover will be lowered to the surface on cables by a rocket-powered "sky crane."

This maneuver consists of many steps that must happen exactly right and perfectly in sequence, including the firing of 76 pyrotechnic devices. Adding to the difficulty is the relatively unknown terrain at Curiosity's landing site, within the Gale Crater.

Researchers have studied images of the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometers) crater taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, but small-scale features at Gale such as rocks and loose debris will have to be contended with. To help with this, Curiosity is equipped with the Mars Descent Imager, or MARDI.

11 Comments

1. 1. lowndesw 09:15 PM 8/2/12

   what is the website to watch this real time?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. newman 08:24 AM 8/3/12

   Where i see this in real time?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. BillR 08:46 AM 8/3/12

   Hoping that it will not be imaging Mars from 6 feet under the surface.... What a wild ride this promises to be!

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

4. 4. oldvic in reply to newman 09:48 AM 8/3/12

   Here's the page with the schedule: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

5. 5. tdayton 12:53 PM 8/4/12

   While you are waiting for the landing, you can play with NASA's next-generation mission operations software, Mission Control Technologies (MCT). My team at NASA Ames Research Center recently made it free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license! Certified for ISS ops. The demo version can be downloaded and run with no computer knowledge. Search the internet for "NASA open mct". Also check out our blog, which is linked from our web site.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

6. 6. axion 08:24 PM 8/4/12

   We have been waiting a long time for this, through several years of delays and Curiosity becoming over weight, over budget, and late for arrival. All that anguish will go away if it lands safely. There was a proposal to land Curiosity a different way called the Skyclimber at the 2007 Mars Society conference this is where you can see the presentation here:
   
   http://shineinnovations.com/5512.html
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

7. 7. Big Mama Roneck 05:48 AM 8/5/12

   I can't find any reference to audio equipment on board Curiousity. Is there any? If not, why not?
   
   Sound gives away many secrets - the sound of a drill into rock to a trained ear will tell you heaps...hardness, composition etc. Sound from Mars will indicate wind speed and direction, planetary creaks and groans, rock falls, wheels churning through sand and most importantly, just like a car, sound is most often the first indication of a mechanical problem.
   
   Now don't get me wrong - I TOTALLY LOVE NASA - but the JPL boffins are more into chemical, mechanical and spectral analysis than they are audio analysis...and given the prevailing theory of the origin of the Universe - that it began with a BIG BANG! Well. What can I say but - Doh!
   
   And a movie without sound tells less than half the story.
   
   C'mon NASA - strap on some ears and listen.
   
   Big Mama Roneck
   NY
   
   
   
   

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

8. 8. Rabe 01:04 PM 8/5/12

   Live streaming Curiosity :
   http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

9. 9. Hootysdad 02:46 PM 8/5/12

   Dish Network is supposed to show the rover landing on their NASA channel...........channel 286 (at least here in Alaska)

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

10. 10. Martin Wirth 03:14 PM 8/5/12

    Here's a sweet link to the landing countdown and other information at NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

11. 11. Nailoz 07:09 AM 8/10/12

    I guess this is one of the best article about Mars futuristic project. I believe this is the really craziest plan of NASA but great job.
    http://www.nailoz.com/?p=311

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this