Mars Science Laboratory 5th August 2012 In less than 24 hours, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) will arrive at the Red Planet and attempt to land on the surface. Known as Curiosity, this robot is by far the largest and most sophisticated ever sent to Mars - about twice as long and five times as heavy as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, with ten times the mass of scientific instruments.
Although some previous missions have used airbags to cushion the shock of landing, Curiosity is simply too heavy for this to be an option. Instead, it will set down on the Martian surface using a new high-precision entry, descent and landing (EDL) system, featuring the largest supersonic parachute ever built:
If successful, it will land in Gale Crater (located by the red dot in this map) at 05:31 UTC on Monday 6th August. This geological feature is 154 km (96 mi) in diameter and believed to be 3.5-3.8 billion years old. The main reason for choosing Gale crater was the 'mound' in the middle called Mount Sharp. This is about two-thirds the size of Mount Everest and a uniquely Martian feature. Its origins are unclear, but it appears to be an ancient pile of layered sediments that time and pressure have squeezed into a mountain of rock. Therefore, it offers a rare opportunity to study periods of Martian geologic history, perhaps as far back as when liquid water was present on Mars. Satellites have already indicated the presence of clay and sulphate-rich layers. The landing site itself (marked by a yellow ellipse in the image below) is a smooth region at the foot of the mountain. This contains material washed down from the crater wall, that will provide scientists with an opportunity to investigate rocks that form the bedrock in this area. The landing ellipse also contains a rock type that is very dense, very bright, and unlike any rock type previously investigated on Mars. It may be an ancient playa lake deposit, and it will likely be the mission's first target in checking for the presence of organic molecules.
Curiosity is designed to explore for at least 687 Earth days (1 Martian year) over a range of 5 by 20 km (3.1 by 12 mi), gradually climbing the mountain to study successive strata. Although its official planned mission duration is two years, the rover's plutonium battery will apparently last 14 years, so it may continue to operate well into the 2020s. Among its diverse scientific instruments is a ChemCam that can target rock or soil samples from up to 7 metres away and burn holes in them to determine their composition. It also includes the first video camera sent to another planet, which will record both the atmospheric descent and surface environment in full HD-quality. You can watch the landing as it happens at the NASA website. Real-time updates are also available at Twitter.
Comments »
|
