Curiosity is a large rover with six wheels about the size of a car, weighing in at more than 900 kilos. It is about twice as long and five times as heavy as NASA’s previous rovers Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2003. It is scheduled head to Mars at the tail end of 2011 and will land on the red planet in August 2012. There it will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores a great range than any previous Mars rover.

In addition to an on-board geology lab, Curiosity will have a rock-vaporizing laser called ChemCam, which will be able to remove thin layers of material from Martian rocks or soil targets up to nine meters away. It will have a spectrometer to identify the types of atoms excited by the beam and a telescope to capture detailed images of the area illuminated by the beam.

The Curiosity rover’s main mission will be to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life. It will carry the most advanced payload of scientific gear ever used on Mars’ surface, and for the next year you can watch it being assembled.

The “Curiosity Cam,” which is located in the viewing gallery above the clean-room floor where the rover is being assembled, launched this week.

Technicians work from around 8am to 11pm Pacific time, Monday to Friday, meaning that those in the UK can catch a glimpse of the action between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. They wear head-to-toe white smocks, aka “bunny suits,” complete with boots, facemasks and gloves to help prevent any contaminants from hitching a ride on the rover to Mars.

The camera shows a portion of the room that is normally active, but the rover, components and technicians may move out of view.

To watch the webcam, visit the Curiosity Cam Ustream feed. The plan for today (Friday) is to put the wheels in place. Viewers also have the opportunity to take part in scheduled live chats with members of the team, for example at 18.00 GMT (10.00 am Pacific time) you can chat with René Fradet, the flight systems manager for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory.

People can also follow a link to sign up to have their name included on a microchip that will be sent to Mars with Curiosity.

Image: NASA

Source: Wired.co.uk

See Also:

• Exotic New Mars Images From Orbiting Telephoto Studio
• Where Will Next Mars Rover Land?
• Hopping Mars Rover Could Be Superfast Explorer
• The Future of Autonomous Mars Rovers

Authors: Olivia Solon

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