Curiosity

“Head’s up” and Curiosity begins looking around

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Photo: First two images of Martian surroundings from Curiosity's mast cam. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The first two full-resolution images of the Martian surface from the Navigation cameras on NASA’s Curiosity rover. These are full-resolution images, 1024 by 1024 pixels in size. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

These are the first two full-resolution images of the Martian surface from the Navigation cameras on NASA’s Curiosity rover, which are located on the rover’s “head” or mast. The rim of Gale Crater can be seen in the distance beyond the pebbly ground.

The topography of the rim is very mountainous due to erosion. The ground seen in the middle shows low-relief scarps and plains. The foreground shows two distinct zones of excavation likely carved out by blasts from the rover’s descent stage thrusters.

Wednesday, Aug. 8, the team deployed the 3.6 foot-tall (1.1-meter) camera mast, activated and gathered surface radiation data from the rover’s Radiation Assessment Detector and concluded testing of the rover’s high-gain antenna.

Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks’ elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover’s analytical laboratory instruments.

To handle this science toolkit, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within driving distance of layers of the crater’s interior mountain. Observations from orbit have identified clay and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.

Curiosity lands safely, is spied by HiRISE in descent to Mars

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Photo: Mars Rover "Curiosity" hangs from its supersonic parachute. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Plummeting through the thin atmosphere of Mars, Mars rover “Curiosity” (still inside its protective enclosure) hangs from its supersonic parachute. White square indicates parachute (above) and protective aeroshell, below. This image captured by the “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter” spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.

Photo: Heavily-cropped MRO image of Curiosity on its parachute. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
This is a tight crop of the full image showing the remarkable detail produced by the MRO’s HiRISE instrument – Curiosity in its aeroshell suspended from its supersonic parachute (about 50 ft. in diameter). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.

Curiosity landed at 10:32 p.m. PDT Aug. 5, (1:32 a.m. EDT Aug. 6) near the foot of a mountain three miles tall and 96 miles in diameter inside Gale Crater.

During a nearly two-year prime mission, the rover will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.

The rover, powered by a radioactive heat source rather than solar cells, is expected to last at least two Earth years and can continue to operate through the incredibly cold and dark Martian winter. Winter was and is a danger for solar-powered rovers like Opportunity, still operating on the surface of Mars, as is accumulation of light-blocking dust.

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The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA’s Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Target Mars: Gale Crater selected for Mars Science Laboratory

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Gale crater is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a layered mountain rising about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/UA

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA’s next Mars rover will land at the foot of a layered mountain inside the planet’s Gale Crater. The US space agency made the announcement Friday, July 22.

The car-sized MSL (Mars Science Laboratory), or “Curiosity,” is scheduled to launch late this year and land in August 2012. The target crater spans 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a mountain rising higher from the crater floor than Mount Rainier rises above Seattle. Gale is about the combined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Layering in the mound suggests it is the surviving remnant of an extensive sequence of deposits. The crater is named for Australian astronomer Walter F. Gale.

“Mars is firmly in our sights,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Curiosity not only will return a wealth of important science data, but it will serve as a precursor mission for human exploration to the Red Planet.”

During a prime mission lasting one Martian year — nearly two Earth years — researchers will use the rover’s tools to study whether the landing region had favorable environmental conditions for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life ever existed.

“Scientists identified Gale as their top choice to pursue the ambitious goals of this new rover mission,” said Jim Green, director for the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The site offers a visually dramatic landscape and also great potential for significant science findings.”

In 2006, more than 100 scientists began to consider about 30 potential landing sites during worldwide workshops. Four candidates were selected in 2008. An abundance of targeted images enabled thorough analysis of the safety concerns and scientific attractions of each site. A team of senior NASA science officials then conducted a detailed review and unanimously agreed to move forward with the MSL Science Team’s recommendation. The team is comprised of a host of principal and co-investigators on the project.

Curiosity is about twice as long and more than five times as heavy as any previous Mars rover. Its 10 science instruments include two for ingesting and analyzing samples of powdered rock that the rover’s robotic arm collects. A radioisotope power source will provide heat and electric power to the rover. A rocket-powered sky crane suspending Curiosity on tethers will lower the rover directly to the Martian surface.

The portion of the crater where Curiosity will land has an alluvial fan likely formed by water-carried sediments. The layers at the base of the mountain contain clays and sulfates, both known to form in water.