Rover “Curiosity” Landed Successfully on Mars

NASA’s Rover ‘Curiosity’ is about satisfy the curious minds of those debating over the possibility of life on Mars, successful landing took place today.
567 million kilometers separates the Red Planet from us, Curiosity’s 36-week flight there to begin a two-year investigation has reached its end. Tension was rising. Curiosity’s16 diameter parachute and reactive engines operating as an airbag slowed down the Holden Barina sized Curiosity. Hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, it unfolded itself, and began roving on the surface of Mars. The ‘7 minutes of terror,’ as it was described by scientists, was over.
Success of this landing was not certain, according to NASA and universities involved with the project. There were 13,8 minutes of waiting for Curiosity to relay signals from the Odyssey satellite.
Carrying tens of science instruments and 17 cameras, the rover’s main duty is to find proof of water life on Mars, analyzer of chemical components is to find carbon.
Landing was destaned to the lowet point, Gale Crater, close to the equator. Scientists have reason to believe that there was a lake at some point and that’s what Curiosity is to find. Curiosity takes samples of the surface, analyzes them on the spot and sends data to the Earth.
Failure could stop the following projects
Curiosity is one of NASA’s most ambitious projects and failure of the project could lead to long-term standby to NASA’s following investigations of the Red Planet.
This is the fourth rover Nasa has put on Mars, but its scale and sophistication dwarf all previous projects. Its biggest instrument alone is nearly four times the mass of the very first robot rover deployed on the planet back in 1997. Scientists are hoping the plutonium powered 2.5 billion dollar rover will last throughout the project.
Recently, a mathematical analysis of the samples concluded that salts in the soil, from rover Viking 1’s travels in 1976, show strong evidence of microbial life on Mars.
Another key Mars mission is scheduled for 2016. Called the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, it will carry five science instruments and will study gases in Mars’ atmosphere, including methane, for evidence of biological or geological activity.
Celebrate the landing: http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/blog/NES_Teachers_Corner/posts/post_1343935105705.html

Tagged life on Mars, NASA