curiosity – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Mars 2020 rover will observe the red planet with 23 eyes

The Mars 2020 rover will be able to show us more of the red planet than any of its predecessors ever did. NASA says the extraterrestrial vehicle will be equipped with 23 cameras , six more than Curiosity’s and all a lot more capable. Seven of those “eyes” are tasked with collecting data for scientific experiments, nine are engineering cameras that will keep an eye on its surroundings for navigation and the last seven will capture the rover’s descent and landing. Its main camera, however, is Mastcam-Z — an upgraded version of Curiosity’s Mastcam with a 3:1 zoom (hence, “Z”) lens the original didn’t have. Mastcam-Z will have the capability to take more 3D images than the first Mastcam and will give NASA scientists more info on the planet’s geological features. Meanwhile, the engineering/navigation cameras will be able to capture high-resolution, 20-megapixel colored images for the first time. Previous Navcams were only able to take one-megapixel black-and-white photos, so they have to capture several and stitch them together to be able to get a clear view of the surroundings. Since these new cameras have a wider field of view as well, they don’t have to waste time and processing power stitching photos together. The rover can spend that time collecting more samples and snapping more pictures instead. All those cameras will help the Mars 2020 rover achieve its goal to search for signs of past life on the red planet. Earlier this year, the agency picked three potential sites to drill, all of which have elements that could have supported life. Source: NASA

Curiosity rover finds its crater was habitable for 700 million years

Enlarge / This fracture with discoloration may provide an indication of groundwater intrusion later in the history of Gale Crater. (credit: NASA ) Gale Crater, the site being explored by the Curiosity rover, was chosen as a landing site because its structure and composition suggested that it might preserve information about Mars’ past. And, as Curiosity’s climbed the slopes of the crater’s central peak, various discoveries have clearly indicated that Mars had a watery past. Now, scientists have put all these individual discoveries into a big-picture view of the history of Gale Crater. And the picture shows that the crater was water-filled for hundreds of millions of years—and warm for much of that time. Plus, a separate paper indicates that, long after the crater filled up with wind-blown sand, groundwater still percolated through the area. Reading the layers of history The new study is built on lots of individual analyses of rock samples done by Curiosity as it headed up the slopes. Various instruments revealed the types of rocks and their chemical composition at specific locations up the slopes, building a picture of the different layers of deposits. Read 13 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Curiosity rover finds its crater was habitable for 700 million years

This iPhone case is basically an Android phone

iPhones have a reputation for being user friendly, but ultimately, Android can do a lot of things iOS can’t. Aspects of Android could be useful to all phone users, but straying from the Apple ecosystem can be intimidating. Now, there’s a new way for iPhone users to easily access Android features like expandable storage and multiple SIM cards. Entrepreneur Joseph Savion and his company ESTI Inc. decided to (almost literally) strap an Android phone to the back of an iPhone. That sounds like a strange idea, but that’s basically what ESTI’s Eye phone case does. The case, which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter , adds a 5-inch AMOLED display, a 2.3GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU, a 2800mAh battery, up to 256GB of microSD storage, dual SIM slots, a headphone jack and wireless charging, among other features. There are two versions of the case: one with cellular connectivity and one without. A comment from Savion on the Kickstarter page says that the Android device can make use of the iPhone’s internet connection. While there is some other integration between the devices — they share the iPhone’s speaker, microphone and cameras — they pretty much function as their own machines. The case runs Android 7.1 Nougat , and if Eye is starting to sound more like a standalone phone than an iPhone case, well, it’s priced like one too. It’s expected to retail for $189 (or $229 for the 4G version), although early Kickstarter backers can get theirs for $95 ($129 for 4G). That said, $95 for a phone is pretty cheap. The main question is, who this product is even for? Most iPhone users seem happy with their devices , and probably don’t need a product like this to “improve” it. Even for users wanting to test the Android waters, there are plenty of non-Apple devices available for under $100 that could satisfy their curiosity without adding bulk to their current phone. Ultimately, Eye seems a lot more interesting than it does practical. As of this writing, the case has raised over $84, 000 of its $95, 000 goal with 32 days to go. So, it might not be necessary, but it will probably come to market anyway. Via: The Verge , 9to5Google Source: Kickstarter

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This iPhone case is basically an Android phone

The Curiosity Rover is driving in reverse to protect its dented wheels

Curiosity’s aluminum wheels have taken a beating since starting its Martian mission back in August 2012. Now, in an effort to preserve them, NASA instructed the rover to drive nearly 330 feet (100 meters) in reverse — it’s longest advance in three months. Read more…

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The Curiosity Rover is driving in reverse to protect its dented wheels

This is what a penny looks like after being on Mars for 411 days

There’s an old penny on Curiosity that it uses to calibrate the Mars Hand Lens Imager at the end of its arm. The rover recently took a hi-res close-up of the coin, and as you can see, it’s getting a little dusty. Read more…