Mars Science Laboratory

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the spaceflight mission to Mars. For the surface rover, see Curiosity (rover). For events and findings on Mars, see Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory.

Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a

space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011,[2] which successfully landed Curiosity, a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012.[3][9][10][11] The overall objectives include investigating Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a human mission to Mars.[12] The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team.[13]

Overview

Gale crater
can be seen. Slightly left and south of center, it is a small dark spot with dust trailing southward from it.

MSL carried out the most accurate Martian landing of any spacecraft at the time, hitting a target landing ellipse of 7 by 20 km (4.3 by 12.4 mi),

Aeolis Mons (a.k.a. "Mount Sharp").[17][18][19]

The Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort for the robotic exploration of Mars that is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology. The total cost of the MSL project was US$2.5 billion.[20][21]

Previous successful U.S. Mars rovers include Sojourner from the Mars Pathfinder mission and the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Curiosity is about twice as long and five times as heavy as Spirit and Opportunity,[22] and carries over ten times the mass of scientific instruments.[23]

Goals and objectives

Gale Crater
sol 85 (October 31, 2012)
For results and findings, see Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory.

The MSL mission has four scientific goals: Determine the landing site's habitability including the role of water, the study of the climate and the geology of Mars. It is also useful preparation for a future human mission to Mars.

To contribute to these goals, MSL has eight main scientific objectives:[24]

Biological
  • (1) Determine the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds
  • (2) Investigate the chemical
    building blocks of life
    (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur)
  • (3) Identify features that may represent the effects of biological processes (biosignatures)
Geological and geochemical
  • (4) Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the Martian surface and near-surface geological materials
  • (5) Interpret the processes that have formed and
    modified rocks and soils
Planetary process
Surface radiation
  • (8) Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including cosmic radiation, solar particle events and secondary neutrons. As part of its exploration, it also measured the radiation exposure in the interior of the spacecraft as it traveled to Mars, and it is continuing radiation measurements as it explores the surface of Mars. This data would be important for a future human mission.[25]

About one year into the surface mission, and having assessed that ancient Mars could have been hospitable to microbial life, the MSL mission objectives evolved to developing predictive models for the preservation process of organic compounds and biomolecules; a branch of paleontology called taphonomy.[26]

Specifications

Spacecraft

Mars Science Laboratory in final assembly
Diagram of the MSL spacecraft: 1- Cruise stage; 2- Backshell; 3- Descent stage; 4- Curiosity rover; 5- Heat shield; 6- Parachute

The spacecraft flight system had a mass at launch of 3,893 kg (8,583 lb), consisting of an Earth-Mars fueled

cruise stage (539 kg (1,188 lb)), the entry-descent-landing (EDL) system (2,401 kg (5,293 lb) including 390 kg (860 lb) of landing propellant), and a 899 kg (1,982 lb) mobile rover with an integrated instrument package.[1][27]

The MSL spacecraft includes spaceflight-specific instruments, in addition to utilizing one of the rover instruments — Radiation assessment detector (RAD) — during the spaceflight transit to Mars.

Rover

Color-coded rover diagram
Main article: Curiosity (rover) § Specifications

Curiosity rover has a mass of 899 kg (1,982 lb), can travel up to 90 m (300 ft) per hour on its six-wheeled rocker-bogie system, is powered by a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), and communicates in both X band and UHF bands.

  • Computers: The two identical on-board rover computers, called "Rover Compute Element" (RCE), contain radiation-hardened memory to tolerate the extreme radiation from space and to safeguard against power-off cycles. Each computer's memory includes 256 KB of EEPROM, 256 MB of DRAM, and 2 GB of flash memory.[29] This compares to 3 MB of EEPROM, 128 MB of DRAM, and 256 MB of flash memory used in the Mars Exploration Rovers.[30]
The RCE computers use the RAD750 CPU (a successor to the RAD6000 CPU used in the Mars Exploration Rovers) operating at 200 MHz.[31][32][33] The RAD750 CPU is capable of up to 400 MIPS, while the RAD6000 CPU is capable of up to 35 MIPS.[34][35] Of the two on-board computers, one is configured as backup, and will take over in the event of problems with the main computer.[29]
The rover has an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) that provides 3-axis information on its position, which is used in rover navigation.[29] The rover's computers are constantly self-monitoring to keep the rover operational, such as by regulating the rover's temperature.[29] Activities such as taking pictures, driving, and operating the instruments are performed in a command sequence that is sent from the flight team to the rover.[29]

The rover's computers run VxWorks, a real-time operating system from Wind River Systems. During the trip to Mars, VxWorks ran applications dedicated to the navigation and guidance phase of the mission, and also had a pre-programmed software sequence for handling the complexity of the entry-descent-landing. Once landed, the applications were replaced with software for driving on the surface and performing scientific activities.[36][37][38]

See also: Comparison of embedded computer systems on board the Mars rovers
Goldstone antenna can receive signals.
Wheels of a working sibling to Curiosity. The Morse code pattern (for "JPL") is represented by small (dot) and large (dash) holes in three horizontal lines on the wheels. The code on each line is read from right to left.
  • Communications: Curiosity is equipped with several means of communication, for redundancy. An X band Small Deep Space Transponder for communication directly to Earth via the NASA Deep Space Network[39] and a UHF Electra-Lite software-defined radio for communicating with Mars orbiters.[27]: 46  The X-band system has one radio, with a 15 W power amplifier, and two antennas: a low-gain omnidirectional antenna that can communicate with Earth at very low data rates (15 bit/s at maximum range), regardless of rover orientation, and a high-gain antenna that can communicate at speeds up to 32 kbit/s, but must be aimed. The UHF system has two radios (approximately 9 W transmit power[27]: 81 ), sharing one omnidirectional antenna. This can communicate with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter (ODY) at speeds up to 2 Mbit/s and 256 kbit/s, respectively, but each orbiter is only able to communicate with Curiosity for about 8 minutes per day.[40] The orbiters have larger antennas and more powerful radios, and can relay data to Earth faster than the rover could do directly. Therefore, most of the data returned by Curiosity (MSL) is via the UHF relay links with MRO and ODY. The data return during the first 10 days was approximately 31 megabytes per day.
Typically 225 kbit/day of commands are transmitted to the rover directly from Earth, at a data rate of 1–2 kbit/s, during a 15-minute (900 second) transmit window, while the larger volumes of data collected by the rover are returned via satellite relay.[27]: 46  The one-way communication delay with Earth varies from 4 to 22 minutes, depending on the planets' relative positions, with 12.5 minutes being the average.[41]
At landing, telemetry was monitored by the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA's Mars Express. Odyssey is capable of relaying UHF telemetry back to Earth in real time. The relay time varies with the distance between the two planets and took 13:46 minutes at the time of landing.[42][43]
  • Mobility systems: Curiosity is equipped with six wheels in a rocker-bogie suspension, which also served as landing gear for the vehicle, unlike its smaller predecessors.[44][45] The wheels are significantly larger (50 centimeters (20 in) diameter) than those used on previous rovers. Each wheel has cleats and is independently actuated and geared, providing for climbing in soft sand and scrambling over rocks. The four corner wheels can be independently steered, allowing the vehicle to turn in place as well as execute arcing turns.[27] Each wheel has a pattern that helps it maintain traction and leaves patterned tracks in the sandy surface of Mars. That pattern is used by on-board cameras to judge the distance traveled. The pattern itself is Morse code for "JPL" (•−−− •−−• •−••).[46] Based on the center of mass, the vehicle can withstand a tilt of at least 50 degrees in any direction without overturning, but automatic sensors will limit the rover from exceeding 30-degree tilts.[27]

Instruments

Main instruments
APXS –
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer
ChemCam – Chemistry and Camera complex
CheMin – Chemistry and Mineralogy
DAN – Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons
Hazcam – Hazard Avoidance Camera
MAHLI – Mars Hand Lens Imager
MARDI –
Mars Descent Imager
MastCam – Mast Camera
MEDLI – MSL EDL Instrument
Navcam – Navigation Camera
RAD – Radiation assessment detector
REMS – Rover Environmental Monitoring Station
SAM – Sample Analysis at Mars
Main article: Curiosity (rover) § Instruments
Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp")

The general analysis strategy begins with high resolution cameras to look for features of interest. If a particular surface is of interest, Curiosity can vaporize a small portion of it with an infrared laser and examine the resulting spectra signature to query the rock's elemental composition. If that signature intrigues, the rover will use its long arm to swing over a microscope and an X-ray spectrometer to take a closer look. If the specimen warrants further analysis, Curiosity can drill into the boulder and deliver a powdered sample to either the SAM or the CheMin analytical laboratories inside the rover.[47][48][49]

Comparison of Radiation Doses – includes the amount detected on the trip from Earth to Mars by the RAD on the MSL (2011–2013)[57][58][59]
The RAD on Curiosity
MARDI views the surface.
  • Mars Descent Imager (MARDI): During the descent to the Martian surface, MARDI acquired 4 color images per second, at 1600×1200 pixels, with a 0.9-millisecond exposure time, from before heatshield separation at 3.7 km altitude, until a few seconds after touchdown. This provided engineering information about both the motion of the rover during the descent process, and science information about the terrain immediately surrounding the rover. NASA descoped MARDI in 2007, but Malin Space Science Systems contributed it with its own resources.[75] After landing it could take 1.5 mm (0.059 in) per pixel views of the surface,[76] the first of these post-landing photos were taken by August 27, 2012 (sol 20).[77]
  • Engineering cameras: There are 12 additional cameras that support mobility:
    • Hazard avoidance cameras (Hazcams): The rover has a pair of black and white navigation cameras (Hazcams) located on each of its four corners.[78] These provide close-up views of potential obstacles about to go under the wheels.
    • Navigation cameras (Navcams): The rover uses two pairs of black and white navigation cameras mounted on the mast to support ground navigation.[78] These provide a longer-distance view of the terrain ahead.

History

Pasadena
, California

The Mars Science Laboratory was recommended by United States National Research Council Decadal Survey committee as the top priority middle-class Mars mission in 2003.[79] NASA called for proposals for the rover's scientific instruments in April 2004,[80] and eight proposals were selected on December 14 of that year.[80] Testing and design of components also began in late 2004, including Aerojet's designing of a monopropellant engine with the ability to throttle from 15 to 100 percent thrust with a fixed propellant inlet pressure.[80]

Cost overruns, delays, and launch

By November 2008 most hardware and software development was complete, and testing continued.[81] At this point, cost overruns were approximately $400 million. In the attempts to meet the launch date, several instruments and a cache for samples were removed and other instruments and cameras were simplified to simplify testing and integration of the rover.[82][83] The next month, NASA delayed the launch to late 2011 because of inadequate testing time.[84][85][86] Eventually the costs for developing the rover reached $2.47 billion, that for a rover that initially had been classified as a medium-cost mission with a maximum budget of $650 million, yet NASA still had to ask for an additional $82 million to meet the planned November launch. As of 2012, the project suffered an 84 percent overrun.[87]

MSL launched on an

Planetary Science Division.[89]

Curiosity successfully landed in the Gale Crater at 05:17:57.3 UTC on August 6, 2012,[3][9][10][11] and transmitted Hazcam images confirming orientation.[11] Due to the Mars-Earth distance at the time of landing and the limited speed of radio signals, the landing was not registered on Earth for another 14 minutes.[11] The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter sent a photograph of Curiosity descending under its parachute, taken by its HiRISE camera, during the landing procedure.

Six senior members of the Curiosity team presented a news conference a few hours after landing, they were: John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator; Charles Elachi, director, JPL; Peter Theisinger, MSL project manager; Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager; Adam Steltzner, MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead; and John Grotzinger, MSL project scientist.[90]

Naming

Between March 23 and 29, 2009, the general public ranked nine finalist rover names (Adventure, Amelia, Journey, Perception, Pursuit, Sunrise, Vision, Wonder, and Curiosity)[91] through a public poll on the NASA website.[92] On May 27, 2009, the winning name was announced to be Curiosity. The name had been submitted in an essay contest by Clara Ma, a sixth-grader from Kansas.[92][93][94]

Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder.

— Clara Ma, NASA/JPL Name the Rover contest

Landing site selection

Aeolis Mons rises from the middle of Gale Crater – Green dot marks the Curiosity rover landing site in Aeolis Palus[95][96]
– North is down.

Over 60 landing sites were evaluated, and by July 2011 Gale crater was chosen. A primary goal when selecting the landing site was to identify a particular geologic environment, or set of environments, that would support microbial life. Planners looked for a site that could contribute to a wide variety of possible science objectives. They preferred a landing site with both morphologic and mineralogical evidence for past water. Furthermore, a site with spectra indicating multiple

fossil preservation. Indeed, all are known to facilitate the preservation of fossil morphologies and molecules on Earth.[97] Difficult terrain was favored for finding evidence of livable conditions, but the rover must be able to safely reach the site and drive within it.[98]

Engineering constraints called for a landing site less than 45° from the Martian equator, and less than 1 km above the reference datum.[99] At the first MSL Landing Site workshop, 33 potential landing sites were identified.[100] By the end of the second workshop in late 2007, the list was reduced to six;[101][102] in November 2008, project leaders at a third workshop reduced the list to these four landing sites:[103][104][105][106]

Name Location Elevation Notes
Eberswalde Crater Delta 23°52′S 326°44′E / 23.86°S 326.73°E / -23.86; 326.73 −1,450 m (−4,760 ft) Ancient river delta.[107]
Holden Crater Fan 26°22′S 325°06′E / 26.37°S 325.10°E / -26.37; 325.10 −1,940 m (−6,360 ft) Dry lake bed.[108]
Gale Crater 4°29′S 137°25′E / 4.49°S 137.42°E / -4.49; 137.42 −4,451 m (−14,603 ft) Features 5 km (3.1 mi) tall mountain
of layered material near center.[109] Selected.[95]
Mawrth Vallis Site 2 24°01′N 341°02′E / 24.01°N 341.03°E / 24.01; 341.03 −2,246 m (−7,369 ft) Channel carved by catastrophic floods.[110]

A fourth landing site workshop was held in late September 2010,[111] and the fifth and final workshop May 16–18, 2011.[112] On July 22, 2011, it was announced that Gale Crater had been selected as the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory mission.

Launch

The MSL launched from Cape Canaveral

Launch vehicle

The Atlas V launch vehicle is capable of launching up to 8,290 kg (18,280 lb) to geostationary transfer orbit.[113] The Atlas V was also used to launch the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the New Horizons probe.[5][114]

The first and second stages, along with the solid rocket motors, were stacked on October 9, 2011, near the launch pad.[115] The fairing containing MSL was transported to the launch pad on November 3, 2011.[116]

Launch event

MSL was launched from

Launch Services Program coordinated the launch via the NASA Launch Services (NLS) I Contract.[119]

Cruise

Animation of Mars Science Laboratory's trajectory
   Earth ·    Mars ·   Mars Science Laboratory

Cruise stage

The cruise stage carried the MSL spacecraft through the void of space and delivered it to Mars. The interplanetary trip covered the distance of 352 million miles in 253 days.

solar array and battery for providing continuous power. Upon reaching Mars, the spacecraft stopped spinning and a cable cutter separated the cruise stage from the aeroshell.[121] Then the cruise stage was diverted into a separate trajectory into the atmosphere.[122][123] In December 2012, the debris field from the cruise stage was located by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Since the initial size, velocity, density and impact angle of the hardware are known, it will provide information on impact processes on the Mars surface and atmospheric properties.[124]

Mars transfer orbit

The MSL spacecraft departed

attitude control during the 36,210 km/h (22,500 mph) cruise to Mars.[125]

During cruise, eight thrusters arranged in two clusters were used as actuators to control spin rate and perform axial or lateral trajectory correction maneuvers.[27] By spinning about its central axis, it maintained a stable attitude.[27][126][127] Along the way, the cruise stage performed four trajectory correction maneuvers to adjust the spacecraft's path toward its landing site.[128] Information was sent to mission controllers via two X-band antennas.[121] A key task of the cruise stage was to control the temperature of all spacecraft systems and dissipate the heat generated by power sources, such as solar cells and motors, into space. In some systems, insulating blankets kept sensitive science instruments warmer than the near-absolute zero temperature of space. Thermostats monitored temperatures and switched heating and cooling systems on or off as needed.[121]

Entry, descent and landing (EDL)

EDL spacecraft system

See also: Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory

Landing a large mass on Mars is particularly challenging as the atmosphere is too thin for parachutes and aerobraking alone to be effective,[129] while remaining thick enough to create stability and impingement problems when decelerating with retrorockets.[129] Although some previous missions have used airbags to cushion the shock of landing, the Curiosity rover is too heavy for this to be an option. Instead, Curiosity was set down on the Martian surface using a new high-accuracy entry, descent, and landing (EDL) system that was part of the MSL spacecraft descent stage. The mass of this EDL system, including parachute, sky crane, fuel and aeroshell, is 2,401 kg (5,293 lb).[130] The novel EDL system placed Curiosity within a 20 by 7 km (12.4 by 4.3 mi) landing ellipse,[96] in contrast to the 150 by 20 km (93 by 12 mi) landing ellipse of the landing systems used by the Mars Exploration Rovers.[131]

The entry-descent-landing (EDL) system differs from those used for other missions in that it does not require an interactive, ground-generated mission plan. During the entire landing phase, the vehicle acts autonomously, based on pre-loaded software and parameters.[27] The EDL system was based on a Viking-derived aeroshell structure and propulsion system for a precision guided entry and soft landing, in contrasts with the airbag landings that were used in the mid-1990s by the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover missions. The spacecraft employed several systems in a precise order, with the entry, descent and landing sequence broken down into four parts[131][132]—described below as the spaceflight events unfolded on August 6, 2012.

EDL event–August 6, 2012

Martian atmosphere entry events from cruise stage separation to parachute deployment

Despite its late hour, particularly on the east coast of the United States where it was 1:31 a.m.,

Eyes on the Solar System, a three-dimensional real time simulation of entry, descent and landing based on real data. Curiosity's touchdown time as represented in the software, based on JPL predictions, was less than 1 second different from reality.[134]

The EDL phase of the MSL spaceflight mission to Mars took only seven minutes and unfolded automatically, as programmed by JPL engineers in advance, in a precise order, with the entry, descent and landing sequence occurring in four distinct event phases:[131][132]

Guided entry

The guided entry is the phase that allowed the spacecraft to steer with accuracy to its planned landing site.

Precision guided entry made use of onboard computing ability to steer itself toward the pre-determined landing site, improving landing accuracy from a range of hundreds of kilometers to 20 kilometers (12 mi). This capability helped remove some of the uncertainties of landing hazards that might be present in larger landing ellipses.

attitude
of the capsule that generated automated torque commands. This was the first planetary mission to use precision landing techniques.

The rover was folded up within an

ablation against the Martian atmosphere, from the atmospheric interface velocity of approximately 5.8 km/s (3.6 mi/s) down to approximately 470 m/s (1,500 ft/s), where parachute deployment was possible about four minutes later. One minute and 15 seconds after entry the heat shield experienced peak temperatures of up to 2,090 °C (3,790 °F) as atmospheric pressure converted kinetic energy into heat. Ten seconds after peak heating, that deceleration peaked out at 15 g.[137]

Much of the reduction of the landing precision error was accomplished by an entry guidance algorithm, derived from the algorithm used for guidance of the

center of gravity offset was removed.[137]

Parachute descent

MSL's parachute is 16 m (52 ft) in diameter.
NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as the probe descended to the surface. August 6, 2012.

When the entry phase was complete and the capsule slowed to about 470 m/s (1,500 ft/s) at about 10 km (6.2 mi) altitude, the supersonic parachute deployed,[139] as was done by previous landers such as Viking, Mars Pathfinder and the Mars Exploration Rovers. The parachute has 80 suspension lines, is over 50 m (160 ft) long, and is about 16 m (52 ft) in diameter.[140] Capable of being deployed at Mach 2.2, the parachute can generate up to 289 kN (65,000 lbf) of drag force in the Martian atmosphere.[140] After the parachute was deployed, the heat shield separated and fell away. A camera beneath the rover acquired about 5 frames per second (with resolution of 1600×1200 pixels) below 3.7 km (2.3 mi) during a period of about 2 minutes until the rover sensors confirmed successful landing.[141] The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team were able to acquire an image of the MSL descending under the parachute.[142]

Powered descent

The powered descent stage

Following the parachute braking, at about 1.8 km (1.1 mi) altitude, still travelling at about 100 m/s (220 mph), the rover and descent stage dropped out of the aeroshell.[139] The descent stage is a platform above the rover with eight variable thrust monopropellant hydrazine rocket thrusters on arms extending around this platform to slow the descent. Each rocket thruster, called a Mars Lander Engine (MLE),[126] produces 400 to 3,100 N (90 to 697 lbf) of thrust and were derived from those used on the Viking landers.[143] A radar altimeter measured altitude and velocity, feeding data to the rover's flight computer. Meanwhile, the rover transformed from its stowed flight configuration to a landing configuration while being lowered beneath the descent stage by the "sky crane" system.

Sky crane

Main article: Sky crane (landing system)
Entry events from parachute deployment through powered descent ending at sky crane flyaway
Artist's conceptIon of Curiosity being lowered from the rocket-powered descent stage

For several reasons, a different landing system was chosen for MSL compared to previous Mars landers and rovers. Curiosity was considered too heavy to use the airbag landing system as used on the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rovers. A legged lander approach would have caused several design problems.[137] It would have needed to have engines high enough above the ground when landing not to form a dust cloud that could damage the rover's instruments. This would have required long landing legs that would need to have significant width to keep the center of gravity low. A legged lander would have also required ramps so the rover could drive down to the surface, which would have incurred extra risk to the mission on the chance rocks or tilt would prevent Curiosity from being able to drive off the lander successfully. Faced with these challenges, the MSL engineers came up with a novel alternative solution: the sky crane.[137] The sky crane system lowered the rover with a 7.6 m (25 ft)[137] tether to a soft landing—wheels down—on the surface of Mars.[139][144][145] This system consists of a bridle lowering the rover on three nylon tethers and an electrical cable carrying information and power between the descent stage and rover. As the support and data cables unreeled, the rover's six motorized wheels snapped into position. At roughly 7.5 m (25 ft) below the descent stage the sky crane system slowed to a halt and the rover touched down. After the rover touched down, it waited two seconds to confirm that it was on solid ground by detecting the weight on the wheels and fired several pyros (small explosive devices) activating cable cutters on the bridle and umbilical cords to free itself from the descent stage. The descent stage then flew away to a crash landing 650 m (2,100 ft) away.[146] The sky crane concept had never been used in missions before.[147]

Landing site

Main articles: Bradbury Landing and Gale (crater)

Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"),[17][18][150] of layered rocks, rising about 5.5 km (18,000 ft) above the crater floor, that Curiosity will investigate. The landing site is a smooth region in "Yellowknife" Quad 51[151][152][153][154] of Aeolis Palus inside the crater in front of the mountain. The target landing site location was an elliptical area 20 by 7 km (12.4 by 4.3 mi).[96]
Gale Crater's diameter is 154 km (96 mi).

The landing location for the rover was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the planned landing ellipse, after a 563,000,000 km (350,000,000 mi) journey.

bacterial spores were on Curiosity at launch, and as much as 1,000 times that number may not have been counted.[157]

Media

Videos

MSL launches from Cape Canaveral.
MSL's Seven Minutes of Terror, a NASA video describing the landing
MSL's descent to the surface of Gale Crater
MSL's heat shield hitting Martian ground and raising a cloud of dust

Images

  • Curiosity's landing site is on Aeolis Palus near Mount Sharp in Gale Crater – north is down.
    Curiosity's landing site is on
    Gale Crater
    – north is down.
  • Ejected Heat Shield as the rover descended to the Martian surface (August 6, 2012 05:17 UTC)
    Ejected Heat Shield as the rover descended to the Martian surface (August 6, 2012 05:17 UTC)
  • Curiosity descending under its parachute, as viewed by HiRISE (MRO) (August 6, 2012)
    Curiosity descending under its parachute, as viewed by HiRISE (MRO) (August 6, 2012)
  • MSL's debris field on August 17, 2012 (3-D versions: rover and parachute)
    MSL's debris field on August 17, 2012 (3-D versions: rover and parachute)
  • Curiosity's landing site (Bradbury Landing) viewed by HiRISE (MRO) (August 14, 2012)
    Curiosity's landing site (Bradbury Landing) viewed by HiRISE (MRO) (August 14, 2012)
  • Curiosity's first image after landing – The rover's wheel can be seen (August 6, 2012).
    Curiosity's first image after landing – The rover's wheel can be seen (August 6, 2012).
  • Curiosity's first color image of the Martian landscape (August 6, 2012)
    Curiosity's first color image of the Martian landscape (August 6, 2012)
  • Curiosity's first test drive (Bradbury Landing) (August 22, 2012)
    Curiosity's first test drive (Bradbury Landing) (August 22, 2012)[156]
Curiosity rover – near Bradbury Landing (August 9, 2012)
Curiosity's view of Mount Sharp (September 20, 2012; white balanced) (raw color)
Curiosity's view from the "Rocknest" looking eastward toward "Point Lake" (center) on the way to "Glenelg Intrigue" (November 26, 2012; white balanced) (raw color)
Curiosity's view of Mount Sharp (September 9, 2015)
Mars sky at sunset
(February 2013; Sun simulated by artist)

See also

References

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