MSL Arrives at KSC
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Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover, along with the mission's descent stage, arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on June 22, 2011, aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane. Image credit: NASA
On Wednesday, June 22nd, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, dubbed “Curiosity” arrived at Kennedy Space Center. The rover was also accompanied by its ambitious rocket-powered descent stage that will lower the car sized rover to the Martian surface. Scheduled to land on Mars in August of 2012, the mission is slated to launch on an Atlas V rocket between late November and mid-December of this year.
“The design and building part of the mission is nearly behind us now,” said JPL’s David Gruel, who has managed Mars Science Laboratory assembly, test and launch operations since 2007. “We’re getting to final checkouts before sending the rover on its way to Mars.”
About twice the length and over five times the weight of previous Mars rovers, Curiosity’s ten science instruments include two for ingesting and analyzing Martian soil samples. The “prime” mission is scheduled for one Martian year (almost two Earth years) during which time, researchers will use the rover’s tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and favorable for preserving clues about whether life existed. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl.
To follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter, visit: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity or http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.
Source:NASA / MSL Press Release
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:16
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/06/28/msl-arrives-at-ksc/
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