Mars Rover Curiosity: NASA Prepares For Launch Of Mars Science Laboratory (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

The day after Thanksgiving, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), NASA's car-sized, nuclear-powered rover called Curiosity, will blast off for a nine-month journey to the Red Planet.

When it lands next August, after traveling 354 million-miles, the MSL will spend nearly two years analyzing rock samples and exploring the Martian surface for signs that microbial life may have once existed.

"This is a Mars scientist's dream machine," Ashwin Vasavada, MSL deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said, according to AFP. "This is the most capable scientific explorer we have ever sent out...We are super excited."

According to NASA, Curiosity is about twice as long and five times as heavy as the Opportunity and Spirit, the twin Mars rovers that NASA launched in 2003. But unlike the Opportunity and Spirit, the Curiosity is equipped with tools to gather and analyze samples from the Martian surface and ground.

The six-wheeled craft will be able to maneuver over obstacles that are more than two-feet high and travel about 600 feet per day. The Spirit and Opportunity were solar-powered, but Curiosity runs on a plutonium-powered battery.

"It requires a fancy power supply in order to do the job," Dr. Pam Conrad, deputy principal investigator for Mars Science Laboratory said in a statement. "This enables us to make measurements all day, every day, at night, in the winter."

The Mars Science Laboratory, which Reuters reports cost $2.5 billion, is currently in a payload fairing atop an Atlas V rocket. Although the launch is scheduled for November 25 at 10:21 a.m. EST, weather or other factors could delay it, so the launch window extends to December 18.

From USA Today::

It will land in unprecedented fashion, first using a braking heat shield, then high-speed parachute and finally a rocket-powered "sky crane" to safely deposit the rover on the martian surface. "It is clearly not risk-free," says Peter Theisinger, mission chief of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

A NASA video, available above, shows a simulation of the rover landing and working on Mars.

The rover will land near the base of a 3-mile high mountain inside the Gale crater.

"Gale gives us a superb opportunity to test multiple potentially habitable environments and the context to understand a very long record of early environmental evolution of the planet," John Grotzinger, project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory said in a statement. "The portion of the crater where Curiosity will land has an alluvial fan likely formed by water-carried sediments. Layers at the base of the mountain contain clays and sulfates, both known to form in water."

NASA has since lost contact with the Spirit, but the Opportunity is continuing to study while spending the winter on the rim of Endeavour Crater.

LOOK: Pictures of the Mars Science Laboratory, also known as the Curiosity Rover:

Comments

[Gina Fiore]

07:37 PM on 11/21/2011

Humans basically will need what they need on Earth to live: this certainly includes liquid water which is required by all living things as we know them; we will need oxygen at the right pressure so we can breathe; we need food; and, finally, 'comfortable' temperatures. For a few hours, this can be provided in space suits for people working on the surface of Mars, as is routinely happening in space close to the Earth when astronauts work outside the Space Shuttle or the Space Station. But, to live in a convenient environment on Mars for a longer time, 'high tech' buildings (so-called 'habitats') are needed which can hold the air for people to breathe. Oxygen for this air could be generated on Mars from rock and soil that is found there. Water could be excavated as ice from below the surface that is then brought into the habitat to be melted. Energy for heating could be produced by solar cells, using light from the sun. Food, however, may have to be brought from Earth at first, but later on farming could be started inside the habitat.

[NewLiberals]

10:49 PM on 11/20/2011

Why does even NASA insist on adding sound effects for vehicles in space?

Works for Star Trek. Scientific Research Probes not so much.

[MightyYowp]

03:50 PM on 11/18/2011

This is for SixGators.
Water is so very important because is the one thing we can't shrink or effectively manufacture. And water is heavy. If we dream great things and want to reach out to Mars, water HAS to be there.

And yes, tech gets invented ON OUR way to dirtballs. They used the same argument for the moon landings. Heck, even this internet was first invented so NASA and other scientists could exchange info.

See, when you dream big, you get big things. And Amercians are Big Dreamers.

[zooperman]

09:07 AM on 11/18/2011

Getting to look more and more like Johnny 5.

[vsaudain]

06:30 AM on 11/18/2011

Seriously NASA. You really expect that rover to simply soft land on Mars? I'm all for technology development, but that video seems like the most unnecessary sequence of complex engineering to accomplish something you've already done using simple bounce-roll technology...twice! I wish you "Good Luck", but I think this mission is a non-starter.

[jsarets]

04:26 PM on 11/18/2011

http://smartech.gatech.edu/jspui/bitstream/1853/8390/1/IEEEPaper06ID0076FINAL.pdf

This paper provides a good technical overview of Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) concepts and why the 4-pi steradian airbag system was incapable of scaling up from the 173kg landed mass of the MER rovers to the 775kg landed mass of Curiosity.

The MSL landing system is actually not too dissimilar from the Phoenix lander (2008) or the Viking landers from the 1970s. The only major difference is that the propulsive lander is now positioned above the payload rather than underneath to provide more ground clearance for the rocket engines.

The Phoenix and Viking landers had to impact the surface at a fairly high velocity on crushable legs in order to minimize the time during which the rocket engines, firing in close proximity to the surface, would dig pits in the surface and kick up dust onto the vehicle.

By suspending the payload from bridles underneath the lander, the payload can be set down on the surface at a much lower velocity without gouging pits in the surface which might impede the rover's ability to drive away from the landing site.

Furthermore, this kind of terminal landing system could be scaled up to support human exploration of Mars, where the landing must be soft for crew safety and accurate to position the surface habitat in close proximity to previously-landed hardware including at least an earth return vehicle. This approach also places the payload down on the surface rather than up on top of a lander.

In the scheme of things, the terminal landing phase of the MSL EDL concept is not nearly as complicated as the hypersonic entry and supersonic deceleration phases. This is the first Mars EDL vehicle that has active aerodynamic guidance during the entry phase, and its supersonic parachute will deploy at the highest velocity ever attempted (Mach 2.0). This is where MSL really pushes the envelope. The cable winch is child's play in comparison.

[savvysearch]

07:04 AM on 11/21/2011

Yes. Let's armchair criticize rocket scientists and the geniuses at Caltech and lecture them on you could have made it SO MUCH better than them.

[SouthStJo]

10:21 PM on 11/17/2011

Haha, love the video, so dramatic.....
and I'm serious, because the MSL is pretty cool.

Godspeed Robot Friend

[CannabisRex]

08:02 PM on 11/17/2011

These scammers at NASA and Malin ignore obvious anomalies and civilization ( past ) evidence while pretending all they know about is dirt and rocks. Oh, and the sky is not red there either. Try spending some time researching this site : http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/ and then try and justify billions of dollars wasted on elementary nonsense.

All photo's and evidence are from the government and links are provided, as well as disclaimers when the site owner, Mr. Skipper, states an opinion not provable or obvious. There are NO NASA rep's that will sit down with you and examine the blatant obfuscation efforts and deceptions, many of which were done when their methods were not as sophisticated and now computers can enhance certain frames and show what is really there.

I fully expect dishonest skeptics to deny and insult without ever studying the site and evidence, and I will not bother to respond to any commenst that are not evidence specific. Some of the evidence is minor but others are incredible and undeniable. check it out and see what our moon and Mars have that your government wants to hide from you.

[oneeasyrider]

04:23 AM on 11/18/2011

I'm familiar with the website your refer, but I don't get the point of your post except you have a cynical perspective. On the flip side, what you aren't considering is the incredible technological advances required to carry off the mission.

The obvious positive perspective of the mission is cutting edge tech research required by all scientific fields. And like always, NASA consistently provides new avenues for betterment of life for all of us; which is then marketed and delivered to everyone by businesses large and small. We all benefit in innumerable ways.

So, not only is the scientific mission amazing, answers many questions, it also reveals many beneficial advances as an aside beneficial to our economy.

[CannabisRex]

11:51 AM on 11/18/2011

I am cynical because there is vast evidence of artificial structures and activity on a number of planets and moons but all NASA and their cohorts do is spend billions on elementary" discoveries " while blatantly covering up the biggest news in history. If you are familiar with the site I linked, then you know that the truth is being hidden and denied, and funding any agency that has a mission to deceive is not worth the effort to me. You say NASA creates advances that benefit us all; how can basic dishonesty and coverups be a foundation for the future? If the proofs were admitted that are evident just think of the support for further exploration...telling the truth would get massive funding for them...but they get it without disclosing the facts, and the black ops guys are determined to keep the lid on it for their own reasons, none of which benefit us. If the People knew the facts they would get excited and involved in a way that no rock and water nonsense ever could.

[CannabisRex]

10:12 PM on 11/25/2011

If I am cynical it is because watching NASA and JPL and Malin spend billions of badly needed dollars to scout around planets far from obvious anomalous evidence and when such is detected hide or obfuscate or deny it, turn the camera away, etc. Big news? Wtare! Dirst! minerals! Keeping people waiting breathlessly for a sign of a basic lifeform while halfway around the planet are ruins and obvious civilization evidence in plain site.

Thats not a face!! That is not a pyramid! those are not structures square and round and many of them. Don't believe your lying eyes when the official photo shows in beyond denial..the shot callers don't want the world to know about the really sweet technologies and black projects awaiting proper private sponsorship, at a cost of course, in the future. For now oil is king, and so anti-grav has to stay denied even though flying all over the world and being filmed at times..thats the way it is.

[zakonz]

07:51 PM on 11/17/2011

Who cares about the deficit, spend spend spend.
Then send paterno and Vanduski there too.

[paultec]

07:58 PM on 11/17/2011

I don't want them molesting innocent martian amoebas.

[ZombyWoof]

07:14 PM on 11/17/2011

I was going to suggest that It might be cheaper just to send a NYC cab driver but then I realized that the rover won't refuse to go to uptown Mars.

[NearOffice]

04:09 PM on 11/17/2011

This is a big budget movie I want to see :)

[spitfiredd]

01:56 PM on 11/17/2011

Wow so big! Johnny 5's big brother!

[MrSarcasm]

01:13 PM on 11/17/2011

I'm pretty sure that was the trailer for the next Transformers movie...

[RhynoH]

01:07 PM on 11/17/2011

That is so cool! I'm glad they took photos with people in them. It really gives you an idea of how big these things are.

Space exploration is awesome. I wish we could do more.

[Carbon Forteetoo]

11:46 AM on 11/17/2011

How many mp3's does it hold?

[Six Gator]

11:45 AM on 11/17/2011

Let's hope this is enough!...2.5 billion, for what?....to note sodium levels in dirt? To be able to state that there once was water on Mars?
Why dont the people get to vote on the worth of spending 2.5 BILLION dollars - to examine dirt on a dead planet? There is no payday for this expenditure....let the Chinese have Mars, they can afford it.

People ar complaining about how much our Wars cost,....well, 2.5 billion fora Space Buggy kinda stinks too!

[French Toast]

12:20 PM on 11/17/2011

Dream small, buddy. That will always get you far in life.

[RhynoH]

01:07 PM on 11/17/2011

You would probably say that spending 2.5 Billion on education would be a waste too.

[Six Gator]

01:16 PM on 11/17/2011

yeah, because ALL our Earthly education revolves around testing the dirt on Mars....thanks!