Curiosity Rover
Mars Science Laboratory
formal name of the mission deploying the Curiosity
rover
launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Nov. 26,
2011
After Curiosity, the only planned U.S. mission to Mars
is an atmospheric orbiter meant to launch next year.
•Mission
•Rover
name: Mars Science Laboratory
name: Curiosity rover
•Size:
About the size of a small SUV -- 10 feet long (not including the
arm), 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall -- (about 3 meters long (not including the
arm), 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall), or about the height of a
basketball player.
•Arm
Reach: About 7 feet (2.2 meters)
•Weight:
900 kilograms (2,000 pounds)
•Features:
Geology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, rock-vaporizing laser
and lots of cameras
•Mission:
To search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable
for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life
•Launched:
7:02 a.m. PST, Nov. 26, 2011
(10:02 a.m. EST)
•Landed:
10:32 p.m. PDT, Aug. 5, 2012
(1:32 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6, 2012)
•Length
of mission on Mars: The prime mission will last one Mars year
or about 23 Earth months.
Kids pose with Mars
Curiosity Rover at NASA Jet
propulsion Lab
About Curiosity Rover
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total
mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on
the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity
Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars,
such as a laser-firing instrument for checking
elemental composition of rocks from a distance.
The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its
robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of
rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these
samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside
the rover
Rover instruments
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_rover
7 Minutes of Terror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s
Curiosity has Landed
Video Credit NASA. Video found at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=18895