On 6 August 2012, NASA's advanced space probe Curiosity, a six-wheeled robotic rover, touched down safely on Mars. The landing ends a 36-week spaceflight, and begins a two-year exploration of our fascinating cosmic neighbor. Now, there are five space probes exploring the Red Planet, two rovers and three spacecrafts in Mars orbits. Curiosity will study the geology and climate of Mars and investigate whether the planet has ever been hospitable for life.
The Curiosity Rover was transported to Mars aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, which successfully performed all steps of the most complex landing ever carried out on Mars, including the final separation from the rover.
Curiosity is nuclear-powered, and has several cameras, for navigation and imaging, and a robotic arm that carries instruments for studying the Martian rocks and soil.
"Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover ever built, is now on the surface of the Red Planet, where it will seek to answer age-old questions about whether life ever existed on Mars -- or if the planet can sustain life in the future," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "This is an amazing achievement, made possible by a team of scientists and engineers from around the world and led by the extraordinary men and women of NASA and our Jet Propulsion Laboratory. President Obama has laid out a bold vision for sending humans to Mars in the mid-2030's, and today's landing marks a significant step toward achieving this goal."
Curiosity landed near the foot of a huge mountain 5 km high inside an large impact crater, known as Gale Crater. Gale was created when a giant meteorite collided with Mars, over 3.5 billion years ago. It was selected as Curiosity’s landing site, since it shows many signs for the presence of water through its geological history. During the main mission, Curiosity will investigate whether the region ever offered conditions hospitable for microbial life.
Intriguingly, Curiosity has also sent its first picture of Mars, a wide-angle view of the landing site, showing rocky ground. More images are expected to be relayed within a few days, as the mission is examining the rover’s instruments and operation.
Curiosity carries onboard 10 science instruments. Some of the devices are the first of their kind on Mars. The rover will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to collect soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
The Gale Crater landing site places the rover within reach of the crater's mountain. Observations from Mars orbit have identified clay and sulfur-containing minerals in the lower layers of the mountain, indicating a past presence of water.
The history of the Martian climate and geology is mainly documented in the rocks and soil, in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic environment, to search for chemicals containing carbon, regarded as the building blocks of life, and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past.
Curiosity was launched into space on 26 November 2011, aboard the powerful Atlas V rocket, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
For more information on the Curiosity mission, please visit the following websites.
http://www.nasa.gov/mars
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl
Curiosity on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity
Curiosity on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.
References:
NASA
www.nasa.gov/