MSL – Astronotes

Robot Exploration

Curiosity on Mars: How did NASA do it?

NASA Mars Exploration Program Team are now achieving such a level of accuracy in landing craft on the Martian surface that the targeted landing area for Curiosity was like an arrow hitting the bull’s-eye from hundreds of kilometres away. Proportionally this bull’s-eye equates to a landing zone on Mars measuring Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 12 yearsAugust 6, 2012 ago

Robot Exploration

Unique Martian Sky Crane Tested

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is to use a unique system called a “sky crane” to touch down next year on the Red Planet. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have just released a video of this previously untried mechanism under test. (UPDATE: it all worked perfectly, for more detail see Read more…

By Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, 14 yearsJanuary 21, 2011 ago

Intergalactic Craic

S3Ep6 - Intergalactic Craic On The Road
Welcome to a very special edition of Intergalactic Craic where we take it on the road! Join Rok, Zuri, Alice, and Andrew as they venture half way around the world to attend the ACM2023 conference in Flagstaff Arizona!
S3Ep5 - Craic with all these moons?
Heather and her new co-host Dr Rok are back! Taking time out of their busy schedules they have recorded an episode all about the dramatic increase to the number of moons of the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn! They also delve into their own busy schedules and explain everything there is to know about AOP's […]
S3Ep4 - Wee Bitta Craic: Bout Ye Alice?
This month is the final 'getting to know you' episode of Intergalactic Craic: Wee Bitta Craic. Ethan and Zuri interview Alice and ask her all about how she came to be doing her PhD at AOP. Find out this and more in this info packed episode!