Download or read book Working on Mars written by William J. Clancey and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning in 2004, a team of geologists and other planetary scientists did field science in a dark room in Pasadena, exploring Mars from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) by means of the remotely operated Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Clustered around monitors, living on Mars time, painstakingly plotting each movement of the rovers and their tools, sensors, and cameras, these scientists reported that they felt as if they were on Mars themselves, doing field science. The MER created a virtual experience of being on Mars. This book examines how the MER has changed the nature of planetary field science. NASA cast the rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, as "robotic geologists," and ascribed machine initiative to remotely controlled actions. Clancey argues that the actual explorers were not the rovers but the scientists, who imaginatively projected themselves into the body of the machine to conduct the first overland expedition of another planet. The author investigates how the design of the rover mission enables field science on Mars, explaining how the scientists and rover engineers manipulate the vehicle and why the programmable tools and analytic instruments work so well for them.
Download or read book Mars Exploration Rovers written by Steve Kortenkamp and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2016-08 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explores various perspectives on exploration of Mars by rovers. The reader's choices reveal the historical details"--
Download or read book Curiosity The Story of a Mars Rover written by Markus Motum and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2025-01-07 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A handsome and engaging children’s book. . . . This accessible look at interplanetary exploration will appeal to a broad range of young space enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) On August 6, 2012, the rover Curiosity touched down on the rocky surface of Mars—and now she’s ready to guide you through her journey. From idea to creation and beyond, this fact-filled, stylish book introduces readers to Curiosity and her mission: to discover more about the red planet and search for evidence of life. How did Curiosity get her name? What tools does she use to carry out her tasks? The popular NASA rover narrates how and why she traveled more than 350,000,000 miles to explore a planet no human has ever visited . . . and what she has been doing there for the past decade or so. Markus Motum brings Curiosity’s story to life in vivid color: the deep blues of space set off the warm, rusted hues of Mars’s dusty red surface, marking this lovable rover and her mission as something special—truly a world apart.
Download or read book Seeing Like a Rover written by Janet Vertesi and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-04-22 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the years since the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and Opportunity first began transmitting images from the surface of Mars, we have become familiar with the harsh, rocky, rusty-red Martian landscape. But those images are much less straightforward than they may seem to a layperson: each one is the result of a complicated set of decisions and processes involving the large team behind the Rovers. With Seeing Like a Rover, Janet Vertesi takes us behind the scenes to reveal the work that goes into creating our knowledge of Mars. Every photograph that the Rovers take, she shows, must be processed, manipulated, and interpreted—and all that comes after team members negotiate with each other about what they should even be taking photographs of in the first place. Vertesi’s account of the inspiringly successful Rover project reveals science in action, a world where digital processing uncovers scientific truths, where images are used to craft consensus, and where team members develop an uncanny intimacy with the sensory apparatus of a robot that is millions of miles away. Ultimately, Vertesi shows, every image taken by the Mars Rovers is not merely a picture of Mars—it’s a portrait of the whole Rover team, as well.
Download or read book Mars Rovers A True Book Space Exploration written by Jessica Cohn and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2022-04-19 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the first time a person looked up at the sky and wondered "What's out there?" humans have dreamed about exploring the cosmos. For so long, our neighbor in the solar system has been shrouded in mystery. Was there ever life on Mars? How can we enable astronauts to land on that planet-and return safely? Mars rovers, including the latest:Perseverance, may just provide the answers! They might even tell us if humans can live on Mars one day! Share in the joy of exploration and discovery with Mars Rovers. ABOUT THE SERIES: This book is part of A True Book series, Space Exploration, that includes the titles Human Missions to Outer Space, Mars Rovers, The International Space Station, and UFO's. The series features the latest NASA imagery and lively text to bring the wonder of space exploration directly to readers.
Download or read book Exploring Mars written by Scott Hubbard and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Red Planet has been a subject of fascination for humanity for thousands of years, becoming part of our folklore and popular culture. The most Earthlike of the planets in our solar system, Mars may have harbored some form of life in the past and may still possess an ecosystem in some underground refuge. The mysteries of this fourth planet from our Sun make it of central importance to NASA and its science goals for the twenty-first century.ÊÊ In the wake of the very public failures of the Mars Polar Lander and the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1999, NASA embarked on a complete reassessment of the Mars Program. Scott Hubbard was asked to lead this restructuring in 2000, becoming known as the "Mars Czar." His team's efforts resulted in a very successful decade-long series of missions--each building on the accomplishments of those before it--that adhered to the science adage "follow the water" when debating how to proceed. Hubbard's work created the Mars Odyssey mission, the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Phoenix mission, and most recently the planned launch of the Mars Science Laboratory.Ê Now for the first time Scott Hubbard tells the complete story of how he fashioned this program, describing both the technical and political forces involved and bringing to life the national and international cast of characters engaged in this monumental endeavor.Ê Blending the exciting stories of the missions with the thrills of scientific discovery, Exploring Mars will intrigue anyone interested in the science, the engineering, or the policy of investigating other worlds. Ê
Download or read book Red Rover written by Roger Wiens and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries humankind has fantasized about life on Mars, whether it’s intelligent Martian life invading our planet (immortalized in H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds) or humanity colonizing Mars (the late Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles). The Red Planet’s proximity and likeness to Earth make it a magnet for our collective imagination. Yet the question of whether life exists on Mars—or has ever existed there—remains an open one. Science has not caught up to science fiction—at least not yet. This summer we will be one step closer to finding the answer. On August 5th, Curiosity—a one-ton, Mini Cooper-sized nuclear-powered rover—is scheduled to land on Mars, with the primary mission of determining whether the red planet has ever been physically capable of supporting life. In Getting to Mars, Roger Wiens, the principal investigator for the ChemCam instrument on the rover—the main tool for measuring Mars’s past habitability—will tell the unlikely story of the development of this payload and rover now blasting towards a planet 354 million miles from Earth. ChemCam (short for Chemistry and Camera) is an instrument onboard the Curiosity designed to vaporize and measure the chemical makeup of Martian rocks. Different elements give off uniquely colored light when zapped with a laser; the light is then read by the instrument’s spectrometer and identified. The idea is to use ChemCam to detect life-supporting elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen to evaluate whether conditions on Mars have ever been favorable for microbial life. This is not only an inside story about sending fantastic lasers to Mars, however. It’s the story of a new era in space exploration. Starting with NASA’s introduction of the Discovery Program in 1992, smaller, scrappier, more nimble missions won out as behemoth manned projects went extinct. This strategic shift presented huge opportunities—but also presented huge risks for shutdown and failure. And as Wiens recounts, his project came close to being closed down on numerous occasions. Getting to Mars is the inspiring account of how Wiens and his team overcame incredible challenges—logistical, financial, and political—to successfully launch a rover in an effort to answer the eternal question: is there life on Mars?
Download or read book Roving Mars written by Steven Squyres and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2005-08-03 with total page 425 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steve Squyres is the face and voice of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. Squyres dreamed up the mission in 1987, saw it through from conception in 1995 to a successful landing in 2004, and serves as the principal scientist of its $400 million payload. He has gained a rare inside look at what it took for rovers Spirit and Opportunity to land on the red planet in January 2004--and knows firsthand their findings.
Download or read book The Mighty Mars Rovers written by Elizabeth Rusch and published by Turtleback Books. This book was released on 2017-06-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On June 10, 2003, a little rover named Spirit blasted off on a rocket headed for Mars. On July 7, 2003, a twin rover named Opportunity soared through the solar system with the same mission: to find out if Mars ever had water that could have supported life.A thrilling addition to the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series, The Mighty Mars Rovers tells the greatest space robot adventure of all time through the eyes and heart of Steven Squyres, professor of astronomy at Cornell University and lead scientist on the mission. This suspenseful page-turner captures the hair-raising human emotions felt during the adventures with two tough rovers."
Download or read book Mars Exploration written by Giuseppe Pezzella and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2020-09-09 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than 50 years after the Mariner 4 flyby on 15 July 1965, Mars still represents the next frontier of space explorations. Of particular focus nowadays is crewed missions to the red planet. Over three sections, this book explores missions to Mars, in situ operations, and human-rated missions. Chapters address elements of design and possible psychological effects related to human-rated missions. The information contained herein will allow for the development of safe and efficient exploration missions to Mars.
Download or read book Mars Exploration Rovers written by Steve Kortenkamp and published by Capstone Classroom. This book was released on 2016-08 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Explores various perspectives on exploration of Mars by rovers. The reader's choices reveal the historical details"--
Download or read book Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-03-22 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent spacecraft and robotic probes to Mars have yielded data that are changing our understanding significantly about the possibility of existing or past life on that planet. Coupled with advances in biology and life-detection techniques, these developments place increasing importance on the need to protect Mars from contamination by Earth-borne organisms. To help with this effort, NASA requested that the NRC examine existing planetary protection measures for Mars and recommend changes and further research to improve such measures. This report discusses policies, requirements, and techniques to protect Mars from organisms originating on Earth that could interfere with scientific investigations. It provides recommendations on cleanliness and biological burden levels of Mars-bound spacecraft, methods to reach those levels, and research to reduce uncertainties in preventing forward contamination of Mars.
Download or read book The Design and Engineering of Curiosity written by Emily Lakdawalla and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the most complex machine ever sent to another planet: Curiosity. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head. No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work. This essential reference to the Curiosity mission explains the engineering behind every system on the rover, from its rocket-powered jetpack to its radioisotope thermoelectric generator to its fiendishly complex sample handling system. Its lavishly illustrated text explains how all the instruments work -- its cameras, spectrometers, sample-cooking oven, and weather station -- and describes the instruments' abilities and limitations. It tells you how the systems have functioned on Mars, and how scientists and engineers have worked around problems developed on a faraway planet: holey wheels and broken focus lasers. And it explains the grueling mission operations schedule that keeps the rover working day in and day out.
Download or read book NASA Missions to Mars written by Piers Bizony and published by Motorbooks International. This book was released on 2022-04-12 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With authoritative text and NASA photography and artworks, NASA Missions to Mars tells the story of NASA’s programs to explore the Red Planet—from the first tentative flybys to the present—and offers a glimpse into the future of Mars exploration.
Download or read book Why Mars written by W. Henry Lambright and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2014-06-10 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces NASA’s torturous journey to Mars from the fly-bys of the 1960s to landing rovers and seeking life today. Mars has captured the human imagination for decades. Since NASA’s establishment in 1958, the space agency has looked to Mars as a compelling prize, the one place, beyond the Moon, where robotic and human exploration could converge. Remarkably successful with its roaming multi-billion-dollar robot, Curiosity, NASA’s Mars program represents one of the agency’s greatest achievements. Why Mars analyzes the history of the robotic Mars exploration program from its origins to today. W. Henry Lambright examines the politics and policies behind NASA's multi-decade quest, illuminating the roles of key individuals and institutions along with their triumphs and defeats. Lambright outlines the ebbs and flows of policy evolution, focusing on critical points of change and factors that spurred strategic reorientation. He explains Mars exploration as a striking example of “big science” and describes the ways a powerful advocacy coalition—composed of NASA decision makers, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Mars academic science community, and many others—has influenced governmental decisions on Mars exploration, making it, at times, a national priority. The quest for Mars stretches over many years and involves billions of dollars. What does it take to mount and give coherence to a multi-mission, big science program? How do advocates and decision makers maintain goals and adapt their programs in the face of opposition and budgetary stringency? Where do they succeed in their strategies? Where do they fall short? Lambright’s insightful book suggests that from Mars exploration we can learn lessons that apply to other large-scale national endeavors in science and technology.
Download or read book Mars written by Alfred S. McEwen and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most outstanding and uniquely curated selection of Mars orbital images ever assembled in one volume. With explanatory captions in twenty-four languages and a gallery of more than 200 images, this distinctive volume brings a timely and clear look at the work of an active NASA mission.
Download or read book Going to Mars written by Brian Muirhead and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A scientist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers an inside look at the future of manned missions to Mars, tracing the history of Mars exploration and shedding new light on the future directions of expeditions to the Red Planet.
