NASA rover ‘Curiosity’ takes off to Mars
The rover Curiosity of the NASA’s Mission Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) took off this Saturday (November 26) towards Mars from Cape Canaveral, USA. The Mission objective is to determine the habitability of the red planet, Mars.
Ashley Stroupe, Staff Engineer at NASA’s JPL Robotics, says that “the most important aspect of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is that, unlike other missions to Mars in which geologists could only tell us the rocks composition and if there was water, now go to develop studies in organic chemistry to find molecules or processes that are associated with the life”.
She also informs that, with the mission, be also observed many other aspects of the Martian environment to determine if it could have ever been habitable, bringing new approaches to the history of Mars.
Atlas V Lifts Off with MSL. Date: November 26, 2011. Credit: NASA.
The Mission’s scientific objective is to assess the habitability of a Mars region: know its potential as a habitat for the past or present life. To accomplish this, the mission’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) has just launched the rover Curiosity aboard a rocket ATLAS V.
The takeoff was carried from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, near Orlando, Florida (USA) on November 26, 2011. The spacecraft stages have been separated correctly according to the data received at stations such as the Diego Garcia Tracking Station in the Indian Ocean.
After a journey of 570 million kilometers, it is expected that the rover reaches its destination in August 2012. Those responsible for the mission have chosen as the landing point the crater Gale, about 100 km in diameter and with a central mound of 5 km in height. It is believed that in this area may be read much of the geological history of Mars. It is also believed that this area presents traces suggesting that it may have been a lake.
The specific objectives of the mission’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) are: to verify the biological potential of the area explored by the rover, investigate the planetary processes that happen on its surface and which influence its habitability (such as water, for example), and characterize the radiation levels reaching the surface of the planet Mars.
Essential instruments and specifications of rover Curiosity
Curiosity incorporates ten essential tools to carry out its mission. One of them is the environmental station REMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station), that will record pressure data, humidity, temperature, wind speed, and ultraviolet radiation.
Rover Curiosity weighs about 1,984 lb (900 kg) including 176 lb (80 kg) of scientific instruments. It is approximately the size of a small car equipped with six wheels. Its maximum speed will be 90 m (300 ft) per hour by automatic navigation, however, average traverse speeds will likely be about 30 m (98 ft) per hour. And it is designed to explore the red planet’s surface at least the duration of a Martian year (668 Martian sols or 686 Earth days).
APXS (Alpha-Particle-X-ray-Spectrometer) will determine the composition of rocks and the ground.
CHEMCAM (CHEMistry CAMera) is a spectrometer that will also analyze the Martian rocks.
CHEMIN (CHEmistry and MINeralogy) will quantify minerals and the chemical structure of rocks with X-Ray.
DAN (Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons) is a neutron detector that measures the amount of water through the detection of the number of hydrogen atoms there are in the ground.
MAHLI (MArs Hand Lens Imager) is a microscope to obtain images of rocks, surface, ice, and rime.
MARDI (MARs Descent Imager) will take high resolution images in color during the descent and landing on Mars to provide information about the geological context of the environment.
MASTCAM (MAST CAMera) is a set of two cameras that will provide multiple spectra and true color imaging at ranges of distance from few centimeters to several kilometres, and high definition video (10 pictures per second).
RAD (Radiation Assessment Detector) will characterize a wide range of radiation for possible human exploration of the planet.
SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) will make mineralogical and atmospheric analysis. It can detect a wide range of biological components and analyse organic stable isotopes and noble gases.
REMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station), the rover station of environmental monitoring. REMS has been designed to record six atmospheric parameters: wind speed/direction, pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, ground temperature, and ultraviolet radiation.
MEDLI (MSL Entry Descent and Landing Instrument) will collect data during the entrance into the Martian atmosphere and landing, very valuable information to design the future missions to Mars.
Rover Curiosity works with radioactive source
This is the third generation of vehicles off-road that NASA sent to Mars. Its dimensions, power supplies, capabilities, and landing system, differentiate it from its predecessors. The two previous vehicles reached the Martian surface were protected by airbags and were fueled by solar panels, while rover Curiosity will climb down gently from the conveyor, which will carry it from the Earth, and will work with radioactive source.
The vehicle will send daily the data to satellites in orbit around Mars which, in turn, will redirect the data to Earth. The antennas of the NASA’s Deep Space Network will collect and send signals to Pasadena (California, USA).
From there the information will be distributed to different teams in the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, and Russia. Scientists and engineers will work together to analyze all the data and decide every day the work that the rover Curiosity will perform the next day.
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