# NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [November 26, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144 "2011-11-26T14:35:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 10
### Author:  [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/181 "2012-08-06T05:57:22Z")
Is that peanut company paying any sponsorship money to the program
Declan
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/182 "2012-08-06T05:57:23Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#):
>
> Yeah, the new Macbook Pro with the retina display.
Want.
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/183 "2012-08-06T05:57:42Z")
I presume NBC’s doing their footage for them? Everything from Mars is on an irritating 14-minute tape delay!
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### Author:  [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/184 "2012-08-06T05:58:00Z")
> [@cmyk](#):
>
> Mmmm… Look at all those MacBooks…
Aye! Nice ad for Apple, isn’t it? 😃
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/185 "2012-08-06T05:58:01Z")
> [@voltaire](#):
>
> So, judging by how the other rovers exceeded their life-expectancies, can this one similarly exceed expectations? Or is it that it’s too big and heavy for solar-power alone once it’s nuclear power plant goes kaput?
It’s powered by Plutonium-238 which has a half-life of 88 years, so the power supply is not the limiting factor. Many NASA missions start out with a 2-year planned life, and get extended for many more years if it’s functioning properly and producing useful data. Of course each extension requires additional operating budget to be approved.
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/186 "2012-08-06T05:58:40Z")
> [@Declan](#):
>
> Is that peanut company paying any sponsorship money to the program
>
> Declan
Yep. They’re paid in peanuts.
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/187 "2012-08-06T06:00:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> Aye! Nice ad for Apple, isn’t it? 😃
Hell yeh! Thank god the mission wasn’t a faillure.
I wondered if they used Mission Control or LaunchPad?
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/188 "2012-08-06T06:01:07Z")
> [@scr4](#):
>
> It’s powered by Plutonium-238 which has a half-life of 88 years, so the power supply is not the limiting factor.
what, the Macbooks? 😉
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### Author:  [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/189 "2012-08-06T06:01:09Z")
Another question, how good are those cameras on the rover supposed to be, or are they just glorified webcams.
Any chance they are Canon or Nikon
Declan
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/190 "2012-08-06T06:01:37Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#):
>
> I presume NBC’s doing their footage for them? Everything from Mars is on an irritating 14-minute tape delay!
Even on Mars, the delay is only 14 mins; not 5 hours.
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### Author:  [@2gigch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2gigch1)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/191 "2012-08-06T06:02:42Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#):
>
> [http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html](http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html)
>
> This one has been working just fine for me. Or does that not count as a NASA website somehow?
>
> EDIT: This was in response to **2gigch1**.
That one crashed on me at about 10 mins before landing, it’s back now. I had to scramble for an alternate source (UStream) to watch the landing.
I was just passing on the comment by the host on NASA JPL that the NASA regular site had crashed (but may be up now).
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/192 "2012-08-06T06:04:39Z")
> [@Declan](#):
>
> Another question, how good are those cameras on the rover supposed to be, or are they just glorified webcams.
I believe they are HD quality, whatever that means for stills. But I do wonder if they’re capable of video…
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### Author:  [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/193 "2012-08-06T06:04:59Z")
Nasa just switched the feed to another room at JPL, looks like the battlestar galactica bridge
Declan
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/194 "2012-08-06T06:05:05Z")
I think a shout-out is also in order for the [_2001 Mars Odyssey_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Mars_Odyssey), the Mars orbiter they’re using to relay the data from _Curiosity_. It’s a real trouper as well–been going strong in orbit around Mars for over 10 years now.
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### Author:  [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/195 "2012-08-06T06:06:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> I believe they are HD quality, whatever that means for stills. But I do wonder if they’re capable of video…
Oh great, now we wont be able to shut up the cult of HDR photos
Declan
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### Author:  [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/196 "2012-08-06T06:06:06Z")
News briefing in 10 minutes.
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### Author:  [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/197 "2012-08-06T06:07:57Z")
lol, mission is speechless
Declan
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### Author:  [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/198 "2012-08-06T06:11:35Z")
Does anyone know if there was video or even pics taken during decent? Seems to me they would have cameras pointing both up and down and activated during descent, seeing as how the Sky Crane was such a novel approach to landing.
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/199 "2012-08-06T06:12:04Z")
Sorry if this seems Dickish, especially during the Olympics, and I know there is a lot of ugly things going on in the world,
but I wasn’t around for the moon landing, and this honestly makes my eyes well with pride for the U.S and my tax dollars
and shit… 😉
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [August 6, 2012, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity/604144/200 "2012-08-06T06:12:53Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> I believe they are HD quality, whatever that means for stills. But I do wonder if they’re capable of video…
They are 1600x1200 and can operate up to 10 frames per second according to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Science_Laboratory#Instruments).
There’s no chance such a major mission would use commercial cameras. I expect they are designed specifically for space applications - i.e. ruggedized, radiation-tolerant, vacuum compatible, all electronics conductively cooled, etc.
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