Mars Curiosity rover landing

[harrygunner]

Mars rover lands August 5, 10:31 p.m. PDT. NASA's JPL is in charge of this mission.

There's an on-board CAM so we can watch the landing on Internet.

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
http://www.spacevidcast.com/live/

[The_Shadow]

I'm glad to see the rover has made its journey and safely touched down to perform its missions...However I was a little disappointed in some of the coverage of the news about the event.

Thanks for the links...

[DM1906]

I'm glad to see the rover has made its journey and safely touched down to perform its missions...However I was a little disappointed in some of the coverage of the news about the event.

Thanks for the links...

No doubt.  The coverage was abysmal.  I knew when it was supposed to happen (BIG on the NASA and JPL sites), so when none of the news outlets lead the landing, I just switched over to the NASA channel.  I don't usually like the channel, as it gets boring, real fast.  A few prompting animations and a room full of nerds staring at screens, until they all jump up screaming.  At least when the big news channels cover these, they'll often use some expert commentary during the event.  A person might think the MSM learned something during A-13.  If it isn't drama or mayhem, it isn't news, I guess....  Ratings are overrated.

[harrygunner]

It was difficult to "jazz" up the event. But, I wanted to experience it as much as possible. So, I watched for about two and a half hours.

That new entry sequence was filled with opportunities to fail, but it worked.   

Several years ago, I had an opportunity to be called in as a consultant to do some mathematical modeling for a complex satellite navigation problem. Most fun I ever had with classical mathematical physics.

The computational efforts for this mission are enormous. They kept mentioning an ellipse and how they had to fit the landing "ellipse" into the side of the crater.

As they modeled the mission, they estimated errors in their calculations of various states of the craft. The covariance of position (estimates of position error) forms an ellipsoid. One can find the intersection of that ellipsoid with the surface of Mars. That intersection is the ellipse they spoke of.

They needed to create a landing sequence knowing that within all estimated error bounds, the craft would land somewhere between Mount Sharp and the edge of Gale Crater.

[REDLINE]

Definately amazing stuff!

[uz2bUSMC]

It was difficult to "jazz" up the event. But, I wanted to experience it as much as possible. So, I watched for about two and a half hours.

That new entry sequence was filled with opportunities to fail, but it worked.   

Several years ago, I had an opportunity to be called in as a consultant to do some mathematical modeling for a complex satellite navigation problem. Most fun I ever had with classical mathematical physics.

The computational efforts for this mission are enormous. They kept mentioning an ellipse and how they had to fit the landing "ellipse" into the side of the crater.

As they modeled the mission, they estimated errors in their calculations of various states of the craft. The covariance of position (estimates of position error) forms an ellipsoid. One can find the intersection of that ellipsoid with the surface of Mars. That intersection is the ellipse they spoke of.

They needed to create a landing sequence knowing that within all estimated error bounds, the craft would land somewhere between Mount Sharp and the edge of Gale Crater.

THAT is interesting! I, however, am glad... REALLY glad I do not have that job!

[harrygunner]

By your user ID, you may have military experience and may have encountered the term "circle of equal probability" (CEP) when it comes to delivering ordinance. That idea is similar for an easier task than landing in a crater on Mars.
   
For example, a pilot will see a circle overlaying his heads up display (HUD). The computer constantly extrapolates the impact point of a missile if released "now". But, there's errors in the estimate of the jet's position and orientation, ballistic calculations and target location. A covariance matrix is also extrapolated and used to calculate the CEP, a circle on the ground where the warhead is equally likely to land somewhere in that circle.
   
When the circle is small enough and overlays the target, the missile is released.

[uz2bUSMC]

I do have the military experience but have not heard that term directly. I do understand what you are saying. What I'm saying is I would rather let the smart people figure out a way to build the computer that figures out the way the ordinance gets in that circle. I just wanna push the button.