Watch NASA Build the Next Mars Rover

[tysroby]

Space enthusiasts can now watch a Mars rover being built at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory thanks to a well-positioned webcam.

Curiosity is a large rover with six wheels about the size of a car, weighing in at more than 900 kilos. It is about twice as long and five times as heavy as NASA’s previous rovers Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2003. It is scheduled head to Mars at the tail end of 2011 and will land on the red planet in August 2012. There it will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores a great range than any previous Mars rover.

In addition to an on-board geology lab, Curiosity will have a rock-vaporizing laser called ChemCam, which will be able to remove thin layers of material from Martian rocks or soil targets up to nine meters away. It will have a spectrometer to identify the types of atoms excited by the beam and a telescope to capture detailed images of the area illuminated by the beam.

The Curiosity rover’s main mission will be to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life. It will carry the most advanced payload of scientific gear ever used on Mars’ surface, and for the next year you can watch it being assembled.

The “Curiosity Cam,” which is located in the viewing gallery above the clean-room floor where the rover is being assembled, launched this week.

Technicians work from around 8am to 11pm Pacific time, Monday to Friday, meaning that those in the UK can catch a glimpse of the action between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. They wear head-to-toe white smocks, aka “bunny suits,” complete with boots, facemasks and gloves to help prevent any contaminants from hitching a ride on the rover to Mars.

The camera shows a portion of the room that is normally active, but the rover, components and technicians may move out of view.

To watch the webcam, visit the Curiosity Cam Ustream feed. The plan for today (Friday) is to put the wheels in place. Viewers also have the opportunity to take part in scheduled live chats with members of the team, for example at 18.00 GMT (10.00 am Pacific time) you can chat with René Fradet, the flight systems manager for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory.

People can also follow a link to sign up to have their name included on a microchip that will be sent to Mars with Curiosity.

Source: Olivia Solon, Wired UK

As of Oct. 2010, technicians are working from approximately 8 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. PDT Monday through Friday. The camera shows a portion of the clean room that is typically active; but the rover, spacecraft components and technicians may move out of view as work shifts to other areas of the room. When activity takes place in other testing facilities around JPL, the clean room may be empty. The camera also may be turned off periodically for maintenance or technical issues.

If you've arrived during off hours or during a period when activity is out of view, you can scroll lower on the page with the live video feed to find archived videos.

SOME FACTS AND OTHER SOURCES THAT MIGHT INTEREST YOU

Mission name: Mars Science Laboratory

Rover name: Curiosity rover

Size: About the size of a car -- 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall!

Weight: 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds)

Features: Geology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, rock-vaporizing laser and lots of cameras

Mission: To search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life

Launch: Between Nov. 25–Dec. 18, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida

Arrival: August 2012 at Mars

Length of mission on Mars: The prime mission will last one Mars year or about 23 Earth months.

DOWNLOAD the mission fact sheet (PDF)

VISIT here for high resolution images

[Sonar]

I think this is kool.. We need to know about the secrets what goes off at NASA.

Atleast we know there getting off there backside and doing something and may the future of that little buggy bring us some good photos of an alien!