To infinity and beyond! (Yeah, we just quoted Buzz Lightyear.) Check out NASA’s newest rover that will help us get all of the deets on the red planet.
What it is
- Curiosity is a rover that began travelling from Earth to Mars on November 26th 2011.
- The one-ton rover travelled 352 million miles (wow) before safety landing on the red planet.
- It is expected to last for two years on Mars and will be controlled from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- The $2.5 billion rover has 17 cameras, a laser that can survey the composition of rocks, and other instruments that can analyze samples from rocks and soil.
“Seven Minutes of Terror”
- The landing was perfect, but it was super scary. It involved a sky crane and the world’s largest parachute. These tools let the spacecraft that carried Curiosity target the area of landing.
- The O-M-G touchdown occurred Monday morning at 1:32 a.m. ET.
What it will be used for
- The images taken by the rover will help scientists interpret its surroundings on Mars.
- It will aid engineers in their design of future landing systems for Mars and other planets.
- The major aim is to see if Mars has or is able to foster life on the planet.
Start a project. GO [1]
Sources:
CNN [2]
Environment [3]