to move up and down
NASA looks to send Curiosity follow-up rover to Mars by 2020, hopes for tools to make return flight
If you thought NASA’s latest Mars landing was a nail-biter, get ready for a sequel. The space agency on Tuesday announced plans to launch another mega-rover to the red planet in 2020 that will be modeled after the wildly popular Curiosity.
To keep costs down, engineers will borrow Curiosity’s blueprints, recycle spare parts where possible and use proven technology including the novel landing gear that delivered the car-size rover inside an ancient crater in August. (AP Photo/Jet Propulsion Laboratory via Honeybee Robotics, Kyle Brown)
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity discovers rock with Earth-like chemistry
When scientists selected a rock to test the Mars rover Curiosity’s laser, they expected it to contain the same minerals as rocks found elsewhere on the Red Planet, but learned instead it was more similar to a rock found on Earth.
The rock was chemically more akin to an unusual type of rock found on oceanic islands like Hawaii and St. Helena, as well as in continental rift zones like the Rio Grande, which extends from Colorado to Chihuahua, Mexico. (AFP PHOTO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Mars Curiosity rover finally ready to get underway after weeks-long post-landing instrument check
The Mars rover Curiosity was due to wrap up an exhaustive, weeks-long instrument check on Thursday, clearing the way for its first lengthy drive to determine whether the Red Planet has ever been hospitable to life, NASA officials said.
The six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover landed five weeks ago inside a giant impact basin called Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, to conduct NASA’s first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes. (REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Handout)
NASA’s Curiosity sends home first high-resolution, colour portrait images from Mars
NASA on Monday showed off the first high-resolution, colour portrait images taken by the Mars rover Curiosity, detailing a mound of layered rock where scientists plan to focus their search for the chemical ingredients of life on the Red Planet.
The stunning images reveal distinct tiers near the base of the 5-km-tall mountain that rises from the floor of the vast, ancient impact basin known as Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed on August 6 to begin its two-year mission.
Scientists estimate it will be a year before the six-wheeled, nuclear-powered rover, about the size of a small car, physically reaches the layers of interest at the foot of the mountain, 9 kilometres away from the landing site. (NASA)
Curiosity rover laser successfully zaps first Martian rock in ‘target practice’ test
The Mars rover Curiosity zapped its first rock on Sunday with a high-powered laser gun designed to analyze Martian mineral content, and scientists declared their target practice a success.
The robotic science lab aimed its laser beam at the fist-sized stone nearby and shot the rock with 30 pulses over a 10-second period, NASA said in a statement issued from mission control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles.
Each pulse delivers more than 1 million watts of energy for about five one-billionths of a second, vaporizing a pinhead-sized bit of the rock to create a tiny spark, which is analyzed by a small telescope mounted on the instrument. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/LANL/Reuters)
New Mars Curiosity pictures show close up view of Gale Crater wall and Mount Sharp
The Mars Curiosity rover sent back a series of new images captured as it moved toward the Gale Crater wall after an interplanetary OS upgrade. The rover can now focus on its scientific mission, searching for evidence that Mars is capable of sustaining life.
Today, NASA’s Curiosity rover uses its 3D camera and tests its rock-zapping laser
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is still more than a week away from actually roving anywhere, but that doesn’t mean the $2.5-billion car-sized robot buggy will just spin its wheels. Before roaming around, Curiosity will be running checks of all its systems, including its extensive HD camera systems and a laser spectrometer powerful enough to vapourize Martian rock.
Photos: REUTERS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Handout; AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes
NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover sends first colour images back to Earth
NASA’s Curiosity rover beamed back its first colour photo of Mars from the ancient crater where it landed Tuesday morning.
The tilted image (above) shows a pebbly landscape and the rim of Gale Crater off in the distance. Curiosity snapped the photo on its first day on the surface after touching down after a dramatic descent Sunday night.
The rover took the shot with a camera at the end of its robotic arm. The landscape looks fuzzy because the camera’s removable cover was coated with dust that kicked up during its descent. (REUTERS/Courtesy NASA/Handout)NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover sends first colour images back to Earth
NASA’s Curiosity rover beamed back its first colour photo of Mars from the ancient crater where it landed Tuesday morning.
The tilted image (above) shows a pebbly landscape and the rim of Gale Crater off in the distance. Curiosity snapped the photo on its first day on the surface after touching down after a dramatic descent Sunday night.
The rover took the shot with a camera at the end of its robotic arm. The landscape looks fuzzy because the camera’s removable cover was coated with dust that kicked up during its descent. (REUTERS/Courtesy NASA/Handout)
