Curiosity
Curiosity/ Mars Science Laboratory has successfully landed on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012 at 10:31 PM (Pacific Time). JPL engineers gave the landing a “perfect 10″! The Mars rover escaped the 7 minutes of terror and will continue its 2-year mission. This revolutionary success marks the first time since the 1970s (Viking probes) that NASA sent a mission for astrobiology. Curiosity will analyze samples on Mars to determine if Mars has ever been habitable for life forms. The $2.5 billion project offset the recent loss of the 30-year space shuttle program. The rover sent its first three images of Mars, sending JPL into an uproar.
For more information on Curiosity (its specifications, mission objectives, and technology) as well as two videos (animation of Curiosity on Mars and JPL’s animation of the “7 minutes of terror”), please visit this post.
References
Grecius, Tony, ed. “Mars Science Laboratory.” NASA. NASA, August 2012. Web. 6 Aug 2012.
Mars. By Curiosity.
JPL: Curiosity’s successful landing
Just wonderful. Science, exploration, discoveries! Been reading about Curiousity all day. I think they picked the perfect name also. Good post with your previous info to add to it Tina, thanks!
Thank you, Penny! Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, now Curiosity. “Curiosity” was the overwhelming favorite against other potential names for the Mars rover. I also think they picked the perfect name, because humans are inertly curious about their surroundings.
Tina
I agree. “Humankind – thy name is curiousity!”
I think such probes make more sense than research in sending humans at this time.
Probes are not as advanced as rovers for research on Mars. Curiosity’s sole mission is to find evidence of life and if Mars was once habitable, Sending probes at this time would seem backward, since NASA has already sent rovers to Mars’ surface. While probes can only study Mars from its orbit, rovers can collect and analyze samples on Mars’ surface.
Tina
So exciting!