Mars rover Curiosity - a year on Mars

• The rover Curiosity - a year on Mars

August 6, 2012 Mars rover Curiosity after an eight-month journey landed in Gale Crater area of Mars. Apparatus overcame 567 million kilometers on the way to the Red Planet.

Since landing the rover Curiosity has made discoveries that point to the existence of favorable conditions for microbial life for billions of years ago. Work at a Glance: Curiosity rover sent back to Earth more than 190 gigabytes of data, more than 72,000 high-quality images of the Red Planet, has more than 75,000 laser pulses, to explore the surrounding area. Currently, the Curiosity rover is moving to the foot of Mount Sharp - the main goal of the entire Martian program worth $ 2.5 billion.

Thus, the rover Curiosity and the latest news from the Red Planet.

"curious" rover weighs one ton and measures 3 meters in length, 2.1 meters in height. It runs on plutonium-238, and fed from the electric generator.

Preparing for flight in March 2011.

When the Curiosity rover set off on his journey, between Mars and Earth was a little more than 200 million kilometers. But the spacecraft can not fly in a straight line due to gravity - the most mysterious forces in the universe. The rover was moving in an elliptical orbit, taking into account the force of attraction of the sun and other celestial bodies. As a result, he had to overcome as much as 567 million kilometers.

The journey begins. Cape Canaveral, FL, November 26, 2011.

The Transfer module with the protective heat shield on the background of Mars, August 5, 2012.

For the landing of the rover Curiosity on the surface of the Red Planet at NASA have developed a new technology called "sky crane". Photo rover descent by parachute to the surface of Mars, August 5, 2012.

"Heavenly crane" (Sky Crane) - a special unit with rocket engines. Huge parachute and motors "celestial tap" slow fall to 3 km / hour, then the "sky crane" rover lowered by means of wires on the surface of Mars. Curiosity was immediately placed exactly on the wheels, and ropes were automatically cut off:

6 August 2012, the first day on Mars, the first photos. On Red planet surface Curiosity rover is able to overcome obstacles in height and 75 centimeters. The maximum speed on a solid flat surface is 144 meters per hour. The maximum estimated speed on terrain is 90 meters per hour. The average rate of allegedly of 30 meters per hour. It is expected that during the two-year mission, the rover will take place at least 19 kilometers.

for information. Mars measured in days or Mars solah day, the duration of which is 24 hours 39 minutes 35 seconds. Thus, the duration of the year on Mars is 669, 684 or 56 Sols 94 Earth days.

Curiosity Self-portrait as a keepsake, the planet Mars, September 7, 2012.

This is the main object of the entire Mars mission - Mount Sharp, located in the center of the crater Gale - Curiosity landing place.

The worker-rover Curiosity continues its activities on the surface of the Red Planet. Here he scooped up his shovel soil for research, October 7, 2012.

Panorama of Mars, in November 2012.

Animation. The rover Curiosity drilled hole in the surface of Mars to take soil samples February 4, 2013. The hole diameter - about 1.6 cm.

ChemCam - a collection of the rover instruments, including a laser pulse for remote study of the surrounding space. These two images were taken from a distance of about 3.5 meters. On the right picture shows the opening. This is a result of the laser module ChemCam.

No, it's not the Martians, this panorama of Mars at the exhibition of the universe at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, June 5, 2013.

Martian day number 292, June 6, 2013. Curiosity rover drill another hole at night to take a soil sample.

June 27, 2013. Photo from the HiRISE - the camera mounted on the spacecraft Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to explore Mars, orbiting the planet. Blue dot on the right - the rover Curiosity, bluish point of the left - the place of his landing. On the trail you can see the path that has done a rover.

The robotic "hand" rover exploring rocks and Martian soil, July 3, 2013.

4 July 2013 - the rover went to the base of Mount Sharp. During his trip, which will take about a year, the rover will overcome about 8 kilometers, and will produce a comprehensive study of the soil, air and radioactivity planet. So long travel time due to several reasons. Firstly, on the way to Mount Sharp faces many arrays of sand dunes. The rover will have to avoid them so as not to get stuck there forever, as happened to Rover "Spirit". Second, during a trip can also discover interesting samples of Martian rocks, and then Kyuriositi send a command to stop and analyze the findings. Close-up of mountain rock of Mars, July 4, 2013.

Martian surface closeup. Here it can be seen some foreign object. Most likely, this debris from the lander. Though…

Another high-quality self-portrait of the rover Curiosity.

Martian day number 324 on July 4, 2013. This picture of Mars made MAHLI system, which consists of a camera attached to a robotic "hand" of the rover and is used to obtain microscopic images of rocks and soil.

Martian day number 329, July 9, 2013. In this image can be seen the slope of Mount Sharp, which is sent to the rover Curiosity.

Martian day number 349, July 30, 2013. The rover Curiosity and its traces on the surface of Mars.

Martian day number 351, August 1, 2013. It looks like the night sky from the surface of Mars. Phobos (left) and Deimos (translated from Greek - - "fear" and "horror" - the names of the two sons of Ares, who accompanied him in a fight) two moons of the Red Planet can be seen here.

Self-portrait. Mars rover Curiosity year his work has been sent to the Earth more than 190 gigabytes of data and more than 72,000 high-quality images.