Last night, we watched as the Curiosity rover landed on Mars -- an emotional and precarious landing that was fraught with peril. The 2.6 billion dollar rover had to go through "seven minutes of terror" and use the world's largest supersonic parachute to land in one specific spot chosen by NASA. It was enough to jolt anyone's heart rate.
The Curiosity's goal is "to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms," according to NASA. The rover is sending pictures back -- black and white for now, color later in the week.
First stop: Gale Crater, which scientists believe used to be a lake. After a year, we'll have a pretty good idea of the planet's history. As CNN put it:
If there aren't any organics, that may suggest there's something on the planet destroying these molecules, said Wray, of Georgia Tech. But if Curiosity detects them, Wray said, that might help scientists move from asking, "Was Mars ever habitable?" to "Did Mars actually host life?"
So there's a lot for this SUV-sized rover to do on the big red planet as it goes forth into the unknown. Congrats, NASA! Here are some silly ideas of what Curiosity could find.
What will Curiosity discover?
What We Want Curiosity To Discover
Last night, we watched as the Curiosity rover landed on Mars -- an emotional and precarious landing that was fraught with peril. The 2.6 billion dollar rover had to go through "seven minutes of terror" and use the world's largest supersonic parachute to land in one specific spot chosen by NASA. It was enough to jolt anyone's heart rate.
What will Curiosity discover?