CURIOSITY
Curiosity is a car-sized, six-wheeled robot destined for Gale Crater on Mars.
Its mission: to see if Mars ever could have supported small life forms called microbes...and if humans could survive there someday!
In addition to super-human senses that help us understand Mars as a habitat for life, Curiosity's parts are similar to what a human would need to explore Mars (body, brains, eyes, arm, legs, etc.). Check it out though--sometimes they are located in odd places!
Its mission: to see if Mars ever could have supported small life forms called microbes...and if humans could survive there someday!
In addition to super-human senses that help us understand Mars as a habitat for life, Curiosity's parts are similar to what a human would need to explore Mars (body, brains, eyes, arm, legs, etc.). Check it out though--sometimes they are located in odd places!
- Length: 10 feet (3 meters)
- Width: 9 feet (2.7 meters)
- Height: 7 feet (2.2 meters)
- Mass: 1,982 pounds (899 kilograms)
Hand
Tech Specs
Names of Tools on the Turret:
Curiosity's "body" is an insulated container that protects "vital organs" inside the rover such as its computer "brains." Its body is high off the ground, so the rover won't get stuck on any rocks. The power system, which looks like its "tail," flows excess heat into the body to keep the computer "brains," avionics, instrument electronics, and interior instruments (SAM and CheMin) warm in the extremely cold Martian temperatures. By analogy, the rover's body also contains a "digestive system." A tool on the rover's "hand" (a drill system) "chews" the rock samples by grinding them into a powder, then pours the samples through funnels on its "back" into its "body." Once "digested" inside, the rover can tell what it just "ate" with science tools in the "body" that identify what the samples are made of. The rover hopes to find two things: 1) minerals altered in water, which is necessary to life as we know it, and 2) signs of organics, the chemical building blocks of life. That will help explain if Mars could have been a habitat in the past for small life forms called microbes.
Curiosity's "body" is an insulated container that protects "vital organs" inside the rover such as its computer "brains." Its body is high off the ground, so the rover won't get stuck on any rocks. The power system, which looks like its "tail," flows excess heat into the body to keep the computer "brains," avionics, instrument electronics, and interior instruments (SAM and CheMin) warm in the extremely cold Martian temperatures. By analogy, the rover's body also contains a "digestive system." A tool on the rover's "hand" (a drill system) "chews" the rock samples by grinding them into a powder, then pours the samples through funnels on its "back" into its "body." Once "digested" inside, the rover can tell what it just "ate" with science tools in the "body" that identify what the samples are made of. The rover hopes to find two things: 1) minerals altered in water, which is necessary to life as we know it, and 2) signs of organics, the chemical building blocks of life. That will help explain if Mars could have been a habitat in the past for small life forms called microbes.
The backside of the rover is less crowded with instruments than other parts of the rover. The power source is the main feature, giving electrical power to allow the rover to perform all of its functions. Since the rover may at times move in reverse, hazard avoidance cameras showing the ground view are important (and help with driving at all times).
- MAHLI
- APXS
- Sample Processing & Handling (SA/PaH) subsystem
- Powder Acquisition Drill System (PADS)
- Dust Removal Tool (DRT)
- Collection and Handling for in-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA)
Body
Tech Specs
- Main Function: Protect the Computer, Electronic, and Instrument Systems
- Components: bottom and sides are the frame of the chassis; top is the rover equipment deck (its "back")
Body
Tech Specs
- Main Function: Protect the Computer, Electronic, and Instrument Systems
- Components: bottom and sides are the frame of the chassis; top is the rover equipment deck (its "back")
Tail
Tech Specs
- Main Function: Provide power to the rover
- Location: At side of the rover
- Size: 25 inches (64 centimeters) in diameter by 26 inches (66 centimeters) long
- Weight: about 99 pounds (45 kilograms)
details taken from......
www.nasa.gov
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