Curiosity will have to survive the extreme temperatures of Mars. Is the rover ready? Engineers put it through thermal tests to find out.
The pre-launch period covers everything from initial mission design to all stages of building and testing the rover, its spacecraft and its launch vehicle prior to liftoff from Earth. It requires meticulous attention to detail and years of exertion to get everything right for a successful, on-time launch. While engineers work on building and testing, scientists at universities and research institutions throughout the United States and the world are planning their instrument observations and deciding how to make the best use of the rover's powerful capabilities.
In the pre-launch phase, Mars Science Laboratory is coming together from a collection of individual instruments and parts to an incredibly capable and sophisticated rover and spacecraft, thanks to countless and demanding hours of effort from a workforce of thousands of people. From concept to creation, this rough and tough rover will ultimately make its way from the cleanroom where it was built at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to its final Earth-bound destination, Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Pre-launch activities include: Landing site selection The final landing site selection for Mars Science Laboratory is planned for 2010-2011 Assembly and testing at Jet Propulsion Laboratory Engineers are assembling and testing the Mars Science Laboratory rover. Shipping the spacecraft to Cape Canaveral Prior to launch, Mars Science Laboratory will be transported to Cape Canaveral, Florida for its journey to Mars Assembly and testing at Kennedy Space Center The team will do the final assembly and testing before launch.
Launch: Fall 2011
Landing: August 2012
Entry, Descent, and Landing
The entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase begins when the spacecraft reaches the martian atmosphere, about 125 kilometers (about 78 miles) above the surface, and ends with the rover safe and sound on the surface of Mars.
Entry, descent, and landing for the Mars Science Laboratory mission will include a combination of technologies inherited from past NASA Mars missions, as well as exciting new technologies. Instead of the familiar airbag landing of the past Mars missions, Mars Science Laboratory will use a guided entry and a sky crane touchdown system to land the hyper-capable, massive rover.
The sheer size of the Mars Science Laboratory rover (775 kilograms or over 1,700 pounds) would preclude it from taking advantage of an airbag-assisted landing. Instead, the Mars Science Laboratory will use the sky crane touchdown system, which will be capable of delivering a much larger rover onto the surface. It will place the rover on its wheels, ready to begin its mission.
The new entry, descent and landing architecture, with its use of guided entry, will allow for more precision. Where the Mars Exploration Rovers could have landed anywhere within their respective 150 by 20 kilometers (about 93 miles by 12 miles) landing ellipses, Mars Science Laboratory will land within a 20-kilometer (12-mile) ellipse! This high-precision delivery will open up more areas of Mars for exploration and potentially allow scientists to roam "virtually" where they have not been able to before. The entry, descent and landing sequence will break down into four parts: Guided Entry - The spacecraft will be controlled by small rockets during descent through the martian atmosphere, toward the surface. Parachute Descent - Like Viking, Pathfinder and the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Mars Science Laboratory will be slowed by a large parachute. Powered Descent - Again, rockets will control the spacecraft's descent until the rover separates from its final delivery system, the sky crane. Sky Crane - Like a large crane on Earth, the sky crane system will lower the rover to a "soft landing"-wheels down - on the surface of Mars.
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Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover Mission Animationby MrAbkebab487 views
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