This is a 360º panorama of one of the Mission Control rooms at NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab). I visited JPL in August and was thrilled to be in the rooms where history has been made. Click through and use your mouse to rotate the room to see everything. Notice the Deep Space Network relays (look for the little satellite dishes)? That’s us talking to Mars (and other planets) and getting messages in reply. Pretty cool, huh?
More pics and behind-the-scenes tidbits soon!
Doug Ellison, of NASA JPL, gives a demo of the amazing Spacecraft 3D app. This free app allows you to explore 3D augmented reality imagery of the Mars Curiosity rover. The GRAIL spacecraft is also part of the current version of the app. Other spacecraft will be added over the coming months. NOTE: I clipped the video a few seconds BEFORE Doug starts talking about Spacecraft 3D… so first image is of another project. For full video of the MSL landing event see here.
Video streaming by Ustream
Download the app yourself, print out the target page and start exploring!
Maggie explores the Curiosity rover with 3D augmented reality!
For more about Mars Curiosity
On Twitter: Follow @MarsCuriosity and @NASAJPL
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarsCuriosity
Explore Mars Curiosity online
This video is amazing. For those who have been following the adventures and challenges of getting the Mars Science Lab (Curiosity) to Mars, this is the next big step. I was thrilled to watch the launch of Curiosity in November during a NASATweetup (see NASAsocial for info on how you can get inside NASA).
But there is more than a mission to Mars here. This video is a window to the science, creativity, problem-solving, and incredible human team (men AND women) who work at NASA — especially NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA).
Mark your calendars for Aug 5/6 (depending on which time zone you live in). The landing is anticipated at approximately 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 6)
Curious to learn more? The Curiosity Mission page and Mars Science Lab website will get you started!
This video captures the excitement of Day 2 of the Mars Curiosity NASATweetup. It was such a thrill to be there, and somehow this video (by Lou Braga, @Photog4NY) brings it to life!
MSL Tweetup Launch Day from Braga on Vimeo.
We finally received the itinerary for the #GRAIL #NASATweetup and it was worth the wait! The lineup for the day before the launch is amazing. Here are the details for September 7. Everyone in the afternoon session is a superstar. Be sure to tune in to NASATV to follow the Ustream video of the sessions! And of course, follow the #NASATweetup and #GRAIL hashtags on Twitter to follow our live reports that day! And then, of course, the launch on the following day (we hope!), September 8th.
GRAIL NASATweetup // September 7, 2011 // Kennedy Space Center, FL
7 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. – Registration at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (@ExploreSpaceKSC )
9 a.m. – Welcome by Trent Perrotto (@NASA ) & Veronica McGregor (@NASAJPL ) in the Debus Center (entry at 8:30 a.m.)
9:05 a.m. – Meet the tweeps
9:50 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Tour of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy ) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, including stops at the Vehicle Assembly Building and Press Site launch countdown clock, Launch Complex 17 and #GRAIL, and Launch Complex 41 from which Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity (@MarsCuriosity ) will launch
1 to 3 p.m. – Break/Lunch on your own at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
3 p.m. – Jim Adams (@NASAJim ), deputy director, Planetary Division, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, introduces Administrator Charles Bolden
(NASA Television begins http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-tweetup)
3:20 p.m. –MoonKAM (@GRAIL_MoonKAM ) presentation from the Sally Ride Science (@SallyRideSci ) team
3:40 p.m. – Sami Asmar, GRAIL deputy project scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
4 p.m. – Maria Zuber, GRAIL principal investigator, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4:20 p.m. – Break
4:30 p.m. – Eyes on the Solar System (@NASA_Eyes) demo with Doug Ellison (@Doug_Ellison ), JPL Visualization Producer
5 p.m. – Vern Thorp, manager, NASA Programs, ULA (@ULAlaunch )
5:15 p.m. – Stu Spath, chief spacecraft engineer, Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin )
5:30 p.m. – Neil deGrasse Tyson (@NeilTyson ), Frederick P. Rose director at the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History (@AMNH )
6 p.m. – Group photo in the rocket garden
This sets of videos explains the GRAIL mission which is the focus of the NASATweetup that I will be attending Sept 7 & 8.