San Diego Space Society

Watch JPL Build the MSL Live

Posted by Chris Radcliff in Calendar on February 23, 2009

10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Location:
NASA JPL Channel
on Ustream.TV

JPL is building a rover for Mars, and they invite you to watch it happen!

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory will give an unprecedented view into the cleanroom where they’re building the Mars Science Laboratory. Just go to the NASA JPL Channel on Ustream to watch the assembly of MSL and chat with JPL staff.

[via Veronica McGregor]

From the JPL event page:

What goes into building a mission destined for Mars? NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory is being assembled and tested right now in the clean room at JPL. Join us for a rare opportunity to go behind-the-scenes to see engineers and technicians as they work on this project which is scheduled to launch in 2011.

The live clean room video will be available on Ustream TV on Feb. 24 beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific. David Gruel, manager of assembly, test and launch operations for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, will be answering your questions from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for the mission, will answer questions between 11:30 a.m. and noon. The Mars Science Laboratory rover is some five times heavier and more capable than any of its predecessors. The roaming laboratory will carry a Swiss army-like toolkit to explore sites on Mars that may be favorable for supporting microbial life.