The robot was named “Curiosity” after a nationwide student contest involving more than 9,000 entries. Curiosity’s operations depend heavily on the orbital communications capabilities of 2001 Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The rover is powered by a radioisotope power system to generate energy from the heat of plutonium’s radioactive decay. The term "rocker" comes from the design of the differential, which keeps the rover body balanced, enabling it to "rock" up or down depending on the various positions of the multiple wheels. A “bogie” is a train undercarriage with wheels that can swivel to curve along a track. The term "bogie" comes from old railroad systems. The rover is designed to scoop up soil and rocks and to investigate their formation, structure, and chemical composition in order to look for the chemical building blocks of life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur).Ĭuriosity is able to travel up to 295 feet (90 meters) per hour on its six-wheeled “rocker-bogie” system. The rover continues to study the geology and environment of selected areas on Mars.Ĭuriosity, part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, carries some of the most advanced instruments ever sent to the surface of Mars. Within the first eight months of a planned 23-month primary mission, Curiosity met its major objective of finding evidence of a past environment well suited to supporting microbial life. NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission set down a large, 1,982-pound (899-kilogram), mobile laboratory – Mars Curiosity Rover – at Gale Crater, using precision landing technology that made one of Mars’ most intriguing regions a viable destination for the first time. Credit: NASA Visualization Technology Applications and Development (VTAD) 29, 2012 : Curiosity began its first driveĪ 3D model of the Mars Curiosity Rover. Curiosity demonstrated new heavy-load Mars landing technologiesĪug.Mars Science Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI).Rover Environment Monitoring Station (REMS).Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite (SAM).Chemistry and Mineralogy X-ray Diffraction/X-ray fluorescence instrument (CheMin).The rover is about as tall as a basketball player and uses a 7-foot (2-meter) arm to place tools close to rocks for study.The rover began its first drive on Mars on Aug.Curiosity's ongoing mission is to study the ancient habitability and the potential for life on Mars. The car-sized rover is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). At the time of launch, NASA's Curiosity was the largest and most advanced rover ever sent to Mars.
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