MSL Launch

Press Kit/NOVEMBER 2011
Mars Science Laboratory Launch

Media Contacts
Dwayne Brown NASAs Mars 202-358-1726
Trent Perrotto Program 202-358-0321
Headquarters dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Washington trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov
Guy Webster Mars Science Laboratory 818-354-5011

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mission guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov
Pasadena, Calif.
George Diller Launch 321-867-2468

Kennedy Space Center, Fla. george.h.diller@nasa.gov
Jessica Rye Launch Vehicle 321-730-5646

United Launch Alliance and Operations jessica.f.rye@ulalaunch.com
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Science Payload Investigations
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer: Ruth Ann Chicoine, Canadian Space Agency, Saint-Hubert, Qubec,
Canada; 450-926-4451; ruthann.chicoine@asc-csa.gc.ca
Chemistry and Camera: Nancy Ambrosiano, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.;
505-667-0471; nwa@lanl.gov
Chemistry and Mineralogy: Cathy Weselby, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.;
650-604-4789; cathy.weselby@nasa.gov
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons: Igor Mitrofanov, Space Research Institute, Moscow, Russia;
011-7-495-333-3489; imitrofa@space.ru
Mars Descent Imager, Mars Hand Lens Imager, Mast Camera: Michael Ravine, Malin Space Science
Systems, San Diego; 858-552-2650 extension 591; ravine@msss.com
Radiation Assessment Detector: Donald Hassler, Southwest Research Institute; Boulder, Colo.;
303-546-0683; hassler@boulder.swri.edu
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station: Luis Cuesta, Centro de Astrobiologa, Madrid, Spain;
011-34-620-265557; cuestacl@cab.inta-csic.es
Sample Analysis at Mars: Nancy Neal Jones, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.;
301-286-0039; nancy.n.jones@nasa.gov

Engineering Investigation
MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument Suite: Kathy Barnstorff, NASA Langley Research Center,
Hampton, Va.; 757-864-9886; kathy.barnstorff@nasa.gov
Contents
Media Services Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Quick Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Mars at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mars Science Laboratory Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Mission Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Comparing Two Mars Rover Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Spacecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Recent, Current and Upcoming Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Mars Science: A Story of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Historical Mars Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Program/Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Media Services Information
NASA Television Transmission at KSC will present information about Mars, at 1 p.m.
EST on Nov. 21; about astrobiology, at 11 a.m. EST
The NASA TV Media Channel is available on an MPEG- on Nov. 22; and about how excitement about Mars is
2 digital C-band signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, used in education and other fields, at 1 p.m. EST on
at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 Nov. 23. All of these MSL and supplemental briefings
MHz, vertical polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, its will be carried on NASA TV and on http://www.us-
available on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, tream.tv/nasajpl .
transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal polarization.
A Digital Video Broadcast-compliant Integrated Receiver Specific information about upcoming briefings, as they
Decoder is required for reception. For digital downlink are scheduled, will be kept current on the Internet at
information for NASA TVs Media Channel, access to http://www.nasa.gov/msl .
NASA TVs Public Channel on the Web and a schedule
of programming for Mars Science Laboratory activities, Live Feed
visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.
A live feed of video during key launch activities from
Media Credentialing the mission control room at Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station will be carried on NASA TV and on http://
News media representatives who would like to cover www.ustream.tv/nasajpl between about 7:30 a.m. and
the launch in person must be accredited through the 11:30a.m. EST on Nov. 25.
NASA Kennedy Space Center newsroom. Journalists
may contact the newsroom at 321-867-2468 for more Internet Information
information.
Information about NASAs Mars Science Laboratory
Briefings mission, including an electronic copy of this press kit,
press releases, status reports and images, is available
An overview of the mission will be presented in a news at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://marsprogram.
briefing broadcast on NASA TV and on http://www. jpl.nasa.gov/msl . Frequent updates about the mission,
ustream.tv/nasajpl, originating from NASA Headquarters together with public feedback, are available by following
in Washington, at 1 p.m. EST on Nov.10, 2011. A pre- Curiosity on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/marscu-
launch briefing at Kennedy Space Center is scheduled riosity and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/
at 1 p.m. EST on Nov. 22, 2011, followed by a briefing marscuriosity .
about the missions science goals and capabilities. A
post-launch briefing at KSC will begin approximately
two to three hours after launch. Supplemental briefings
Mars Science Laboratory Launch 5 Press Kit

Quick Facts
Spacecraft Mission
Cruise vehicle dimensions (cruise stage and aeroshell Launch period: Nov. 25 through Dec. 18, 2011
with rover and descent stage inside): Diameter: 14 feet,
9 inches (4.5 meters); height: 9 feet, 8 inches (3 meters) Launch windows: Launch opportunities every five min-
utes during daily windows 103 minutes long at the start
Rover name: Curiosity of the launch period and 44 minutes long at the end of
the launch period. First launch opportunity on Nov. 25:
Rover dimensions: Length: 9 feet, 10 inches (3.0 meters) 10:25 a.m. EST
(not counting arm); width: 9 feet, 1 inch (2.8 meters);
height at top of mast: 7 feet (2.1 meters); arm length: Launch site: Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air
7feet (2.1 meters); wheel diameter: 20 inches (0.5 Force Station, Fla.
meter)
EarthMars distance on Nov. 25, 2011: 127 million
Mass: 8,463 pounds (3,893 kilograms) total at launch, miles (205 million kilometers)
consisting of 1,982-pound (899-kilogram) rover;
5,293-pound (2,401-kilogram) entry, descent and land- Mars landing: Between 1 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Pacific
ing system (aeroshell plus fueled descent stage); and Daylight Time, Aug. 5, 2012. (Aug. 6, 5 a.m. to 5:30
1,188-pound (539-kilogram) fueled cruise stage a.m. Universal Time; Aug. 6, 1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.,
Eastern Daylight Time). This will be about 3 p.m. local
Power for rover: Multi-mission radioisotope thermoelec- time at the Mars landing site.
tric generator and lithium-ion batteries
Landing site: 4.5 degrees south latitude, 137.4 degrees
Science payload: 165 pounds (75 kilograms) in 10 east longitude, inside Gale Crater
instruments: Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer,
Chemistry and Camera, Chemistry and Mineralogy, EarthMars distance on Aug. 6, 2012: 154 million miles
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons, Mars Descent Imager, (248 million kilometers)
Mars Hand Lens Imager, Mast Camera, Radiation One-way radio transit time, Mars to Earth, on Aug. 6,
Assessment Detector, Rover Environmental Monitoring 2012: 13.8 minutes
Station, and Sample Analysis at Mars
Total distance of travel, Earth to Mars: About 354 million
Launch Vehicle miles (570 million kilometers)
Type: Atlas V 541 Primary mission: One Martian year (98 weeks)
Height with payload: 191 feet (58 meters) Expected near-surface atmospheric temperatures at
landing site during primary mission: minus 130 F to 32
Mass, fully fueled, with spacecraft on top: 1.17 million F (minus 90 C to zero C)
pounds (531,000 kilograms)
Program
Cost: $2.5 billion, including $1.8 billlion for spacecraft

development and science investigations and additional
amounts for launch and operations.

Mars at a Glance
General Environment
One of five planets known to ancients; Mars was Atmosphere composed chiefly of carbon dioxide
the Roman god of war, agriculture and the state (95.3 percent), nitrogen (2.7 percent) and argon
Yellowish brown to reddish color; occasionally the (1.6 percent)
third-brightest object in the night sky after the moon Surface atmospheric pressure less than 1/100th
and Venus that of Earths average
Surface winds of 0 to about 20 miles per hour (0 to
Physical Characteristics about 9 meters per second), with gusts of about
90 miles per hour (about 40 meters per second)
Average diameter 4,212 miles (6,780 kilometers); Local, regional and global dust storms; also whirl-
about half the size of Earth, but twice the size of winds called dust devils
Earths moon
Surface temperature averages minus 64 F (minus
Same land area as Earth, reminiscent of a cold, 53 C); varies from minus 199 F (minus 128 C)
rocky desert during polar night to 80 F (27 C) at equator during
Mass 1/10th of Earths; gravity only 38 percent as midday at closest point in orbit to sun
strong as Earths
Density 3.9 times greater than water (compared with Features
Earths 5.5 times greater than water)
No planet-wide magnetic field detected; only local- Highest point is Olympus Mons, a huge shield vol-
ized ancient remnant fields in various regions cano about 16 miles (26 kilometers) high and 370
miles (600 kilometers) across; has about the same
area as Arizona
Orbit
Canyon system of Valles Marineris is largest and
Fourth planet from the sun, the next beyond Earth deepest known in solar system; extends more than
2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) and has 3 to 6 miles
About 1.5 times farther from the sun than Earth is (5 to 10 kilometers) relief from floors to tops of sur-
Orbit elliptical; distance from sun varies from a mini- rounding plateaus
mum of 128.4 million miles (206.7 million kilometers)
to a maximum of 154.8 million miles (249.2 million Moons
kilometers); average is 141.5 million miles (227.7
million kilometers) Two irregularly shaped moons, each only a few
Revolves around sun once every 687 Earth days kilometers wide
Rotation period (length of day) 24 hours, 39 min- Larger moon named Phobos (fear); smaller is
utes, 35 seconds (1.027 Earth days) Deimos (terror), named for attributes personified
Poles tilted 25 degrees, creating seasons similar to in Greek mythology as sons of the god of war
Earths

Mars Science Laboratory Investigations
Mars Science Laboratory Investigations croorganisms or their fossil equivalents. However, if this
mission finds that the field site in Gale Crater has had
NASAs Mars Science Laboratory mission will study conditions favorable for habitability and for preserving
whether the Gale Crater area of Mars has evidence of evidence about life, those findings can shape future
past and present habitable environments. These stud- missions that would bring samples back to Earth for
ies will be part of a broader examination of past and life-detection tests or for missions that carry advanced
present processes in the Martian atmosphere and on life-detection experiments to Mars. In this sense, the
its surface. The research will use 10 instrument-based Mars Science Laboratory is the prospecting stage in a
science investigations. The missions rover, Curiosity, step-by-step program of exploration, reconnaissance,
carries the instruments for these investigations and will prospecting and mining evidence for a definitive an-
support their use by providing overland mobility, sample- swer about whether life has existed on Mars. NASAs
acquisition capabilities, power and communications. Astrobiology Program has aided in development of the
The primary mission will last one Mars year (98 weeks). Mars Science Laboratory science payload and in stud-
ies of extreme habitats on Earth that can help in under-
The payload includes mast-mounted instruments to standing possible habitats on Mars.
survey the surroundings and assess potential sampling
targets from a distance; instruments on Curiositys Three conditions considered crucial for habitability are
robotic arm for close-up inspections; laboratory instru- liquid water, other chemical ingredients utilized by life
ments inside the rover for analysis of samples from and a source of energy. The Mars Science Laboratory
rocks, soils and atmosphere; and instruments to moni- mission advances the follow the water strategy of
tor the environment around the rover. In addition to the NASA Mars exploration since the mid-1990s to a
science payload, engineering sensors on the heat shield strategy of determining the best settings for seeking an
will gather information about Mars atmosphere and the answer to whether Mars ever supported life.
spacecrafts performance during its descent through the
atmosphere. Every environment on Earth where there is liquid water
sustains microbial life. For most of Earths history, the
To make best use of the rovers science capabilities, a only life forms on this planet were microorganisms, or
diverse international team of scientists and engineers will microbes. Microbes still make up most of the living mat-
make daily decisions about the rovers activities for the ter on Earth. Scientists who specialize in the search for
following day. Even if the rovers technology all performs life on other worlds expect that any life on Mars, if it has
flawlessly, some types of evidence the mission will seek existed at all, has been microbial.
about past environments may not have persisted in the
rock record. While the possibility that life might have Curiosity will land in a region where this key item on the
existed on Mars provokes great interest, a finding that checklist of lifes requirements has already been deter-
conditions did not favor life would also pay off with valu- mined: It was wet. Observations from Mars orbit during
able insight about differences and similarities between five years of assessing candidate landing sites have
early Mars and early Earth. made these areas some of the most intensely studied
places on Mars. Researchers have used NASAs Mars
Habitability Reconnaissance Orbiter to map the areas mineralogy,
finding exposures of clay minerals. Clays, other phyllosili-
The mission will assess whether the area Curiosity ex- cates and sulfates form under conditions with adequate
plores has ever been a potential habitat for Martian life. liquid water in a life-supporting, medium range between
very acidic and very alkaline.
Whether life has existed on Mars is an open question
that this mission, by itself, is not designed to answer. Curiosity will inventory other basic ingredients for life,
Curiosity does not carry experiments to detect active seek additional evidence about water and investigate
processes that would signify present-day biological how conditions in the area have changed over time.
metabolism, nor does it have the ability to image mi- The wet environment in which the clay minerals formed

is long gone, probably occurring more than 3 billion process would favor increased concentration of heavier
years ago. Examining the geological context for those isotopes in the retained, modern atmosphere. Such
minerals, such as the minerals in younger rock layers, processes can be relevant to habitability and biology.
could advance understanding of habitat change to drier Curiosity will assess isotopic ratios in methane if that
conditions. The rover can also check for traces of water gas is in the air around the rover. Methane is an organic
still bound into the mineral structure of rocks at and near molecule, and its carbon isotope ratio can be very
the surface. distinctive. Observations from orbit and from Earth indi-
cate traces of it may be present in Mars atmosphere.
Carbon-containing compounds called organic mol- Isotopic ratios could hold clues about whether methane
ecules are an important class of ingredients for life that is being produced by microbes or by a non-biological
Curiosity can detect and inventory. This capability adds process.
a trailblazing follow the carbon aspect to the Mars
Science Laboratory, as part of the sequel to the follow The mission has four primary science objectives to
the water theme. meet NASAs overall habitability assessment goal:
Assess the biological potential of at least one target
Organic molecules contain one or more carbon atoms environment by determining the nature and inven-
bound to hydrogen and, in many cases, additional ele- tory of organic carbon compounds, searching for
ments. They can exist without life, but life as we know the chemical building blocks of life and identifying
it cannot exist without them, so their presence would features that may record the actions of biologically
be an important plus for habitability. If Curiosity detects relevant processes.
complex organics that are important to life on Earth, Characterize the geology of the rovers field site at
such as amino acids, these might be of biological origin, all appropriate spatial scales by investigating the
but also could come from non-biological sources, such chemical, isotopic and mineralogical composition of
as carbonaceous meteorites delivered to the surface of surface and near-surface materials and interpreting
the planet. the processes that have formed rocks and soils.
Curiosity will also check for other chemical elements Investigate planetary processes of relevance to past
important for life, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur habitability (including the role of water) by assessing
and oxygen. the long timescale atmospheric evolution and de-
termining the present state, distribution and cycling
The rover will definitively identify minerals, which provide of water and carbon dioxide.
a lasting record of the temperatures, pressures and Characterize the broad spectrum of surface ra-
chemistry present when the minerals were formed or diation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar
altered. Researchers will add that information to obser- proton events and secondary neutrons.
vations about geological context, such as the patterns
and processes of sedimentary rock accumulation, to Preservation and Past Environments
chart a chronology of how the areas environments have
changed over time. Energy for life on Mars could come Some of the same environmental conditions favorable
from sunlight, heat or mixtures of chemicals (food) with for life can, paradoxically, be unfavorable for preserv-
an energy gradient that could be exploited by biological ing evidence about life. Water, oxidants and heat, all of
metabolism. The information Curiosity collects about which can contribute to habitability, can destroy organic
minerals and about the areas modern environment will molecules and other possible markers left by life, or
be analyzed for clues about possible past and present biosignatures.
energy sources for life.
Life has thrived on Earth for more than 3 billion years,
Curiosity will measure the ratios of different isotopes of but only a miniscule fraction of Earths past life has
several elements. Isotopes are variants of the same ele- left evidence of itself in the rock record on this planet.
ment with different atomic weights. Ratios such as the Preserving evidence of life from the distant past has
proportion of carbon-13 to carbon-12 can provide in- required specific, unusual conditions. On Earth, these
sight into planetary processes. For example, Mars once windows of preservation have included situations such
had a much denser atmosphere than it does today, and as insects encased in amber and mastodons im-
if the loss occurred at the top of the atmosphere, that

mersed in tar pits. Mars wont have fossils of insects or ing conditions over a range of times. Analyzing samples
mastodons; if Mars has had any life forms at all, they from different points in that range could identify which, if
were likely microbes. Understanding what types of any, hold organics. The rover might find that the answer
environments may have preserved evidence of microbial is none. While such an answer could shrink prospects
life from billions of years ago, even on Earth, is still an for finding evidence of ancient life on Mars, it would
emerging field of study. strengthen the contrast between early Mars and early
Earth. The history of environmental changes on an
To determine whether Mars ever supported life, a key Earthlike planet without life would be valuable for un-
step is learning where biosignatures could persist. derstanding the history of lifes interaction with Earths
Curiositys findings about windows of preservation will environment.
serve this missions prospector role: identifying good
hunting grounds for possible future investigations about Modern Environment
Martian lifes existence and characteristics. They can
also guide this missions own course, informing deci- The Mars Science Laboratory will study the current envi-
sions about where to drive and which rocks to sample ronment in its landing region as well as the records left by
in Curiositys search for organics. past environments. Curiosity carries a weather station, an
instrument for monitoring natural high-energy radiation
Accumulation of rock-forming sediments writes a record and an instrument that can detect soil moisture and wa-
of environmental conditions and processes into those ter-containing minerals in the ground beneath the rover.
sedimentary rocks. The layers of the mountain inside The investigations of organics and other potential ingre-
Gale Crater provide a record of events arranged in dients for life can analyze samples of modern-day soil for
the order in which they occurred. Researchers using what nutrients would be available to soil microbes. The
Curiosity can look at how environments changed over ability to check for methane in the atmosphere is a study
time, possibly including transitions from habitable condi- of modern processes, too. Methane would break down
tions to non-habitable conditions. Some of the clues and disappear from the atmosphere within a few centu-
are in the textures of the rocks, and Curiosity will be ries if not replenished by an active source, so its pres-
looking for distinctive rock textures. Other clues are in ence would be surprising.
the mineral and chemical compositions.
Selection of Curiositys landing site was not based on
Some conditions and processes, such as low tempera- traits favoring present-day habitability. However, much of
tures and rapid entrapment in the sediments, can favor the information this mission contributes about the mod-
preservation of organics and evidence about life. As ern environment will enhance our general understanding
Curiosity looks for organics by analyzing samples drilled of Mars. For example, can organic compounds delivered
from sedimentary rocks, it will be reading the history of by meteorites persist in the soil close to the surface?
past environments whether or not it finds organics. How does the modern atmosphere affect the ultraviolet
and high-energy radiation that reaches the surface, pos-
Some minerals and other geologic materials, such as ing a hazard to life and to preservation of organics? How
sulfates, phosphates, carbonates and silica, can help might we better estimate levels in the past? The rovers
preserve biosignatures. All of these materials, forming monitoring of radiation levels from cosmic rays and the
under just the right balance of environmental conditions, sun also is designed to address astronaut safety on
have the potential to preserve fragments of organic mol- eventual human missions to Mars.
ecules derived from microbes or carbonaceous mete-
orites. But not just any rock formed of suitable minerals Science Payload
will do. Most on Earth do not. Expectations for Mars are
similar, and the chances of a discovery even if life had On April 14, 2004, NASA announced an opportunity
been present are very small. If this sounds sobering, for researchers to propose science investigations for
it should be, but this is the only known way to prospect the Mars Science Laboratory mission. The solicitation
for the vestiges of life on the early Earth. for proposals said, The overall science objective of the
MSL mission is to explore and quantitatively assess a
The area at Gale Crater accessible to Curiosity as it potential habitat on Mars. Eight months later, the agency
drives during the mission contains rocks and soils announced selection of eight investigations proposed
that may have been originally deposited under differ- competitively. In addition, Spain and Russia would each

provide an investigation through international agree- complementary capabilities for showing the rovers sur-
ments. The instruments for these 10 investigations make roundings in exquisite detail and in motion.
up the science payload on Curiosity.
The right-eye Mastcam looks through a telephoto lens,
The two instruments on the mast are a versatile, revealing details near or far with about three-fold better
high-definition imaging system, and a laser-equipped, resolution than any previous landscape-viewing camera
spectrum-reading camera that can hit a rock with a on the surface of Mars. The left-eye Mastcam provides
laser and observe the resulting spark for information broader context through a medium-angle lens. Each
about what chemical elements are in the rock. The can acquire and store thousands of full-color images.
tools on the turret at the end of Curiositys 7-foot-long Each is also capable of recording high-definition video.
(2.1-meter-long) robotic arm include a radiation-emitting Combining information from the two eyes can yield 3-D
instrument that reads X-ray clues to targets composi- views where the images overlap.
tion and a magnifying-lens camera. The arm can deliver
soil and powdered-rock samples to an instrument that Mastcam imaging of the shapes and colors of land-
uses X-ray analysis to identify minerals in the sample scapes, rocks and soils will provide clues about the his-
and to an instrument that uses three laboratory methods tory of environmental processes that have formed them
for assessing carbon compounds and other chemicals and modified them over time. Images and videos of the
important to life and indicative of past and present pro- sky will document contemporary processes, such as the
cesses. For characterizing the modern environment, the movement of clouds and dust.
rover also carries instruments to monitor the weather,
measure natural radiation and seek evidence of water The telephoto Mastcam is called Mastcam 100 for its
beneath the surface. To provide context for all the other 100-millimeter focal-length lens. Its images cover an area
instruments, a camera will record images of the landing about six degrees wide and five degrees tall, in 1,600 pix-
area during descent. els by 1,200 pixels. This yields a scale of 2.9 inches (7.4
centimeters) per pixel at a distance of about six-tenths of
The 10 science instruments on the Mars Science a mile (1 kilometer) and about 0.006 inch (150 microns)
Laboratory have a combined mass of 165 pounds (75 per pixel at a distance of 6.6 feet (2 meters). The camera
kilograms), compared with a five-instrument science provides enough resolution to distinguish a basketball
payload totaling 11 pounds (5 kilograms) on each of the from a football at a distance of seven football fields, or to
twin rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, that landed on Mars read ONE CENT on a penny on the ground beside the
in 2004. The mass of just one of Curiositys 10 instru- rover.
ments, 88 pounds (40 kilograms) for Sample Analysis at
Mars, is nearly four times the 23-pound (10.6-kilogram) Its left-eye partner, called Mastcam 34 for its 34-mil-
total mass of the first Mars rover, 1997s Sojourner on limeter lens, catches a scene three times wider about
the Mars Pathfinder mission. 18 degrees wide and 15 degrees tall on an identical
detector. It can obtain images with 8.7 inches (22 cen-
Assessing past and present habitability of environments timeters) per pixel at a distance of about six-tenths of a
at sites visited by Curiosity will require integrating the mile (1 kilometer) and 0.018 inch (450 microns) per pixel
results of the various instruments, not any single instru- at a distance of 6.6 feet (2 meters).
ment. Science operations and analysis will be coor-
dinated through the Mars Science Laboratory Project The centers of Mastcams lenses sit about 6.5 feet (2.0
Science Group, whose members are Project Scientist meters) above ground level. The eyes are farther apart
John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, about 10 inches (25 centimeters) than the stereo eyes
Pasadena, Calif.; Program Scientist Michael Meyer of on earlier Mars surface robots. The cameras can focus
NASA Headquarters, Washington; and the principal on features at any distance from about 6 feet (just under
investigator for each of the following investigations. 2 meters) to infinity.
Mast Camera (Mastcam) When Curiosity drives to a new location, the Mastcam
34 can record a full-color, full-circle panorama showing
Two two-megapixel color cameras on Curiositys mast everything from the nearby ground to the horizon by tak-
are the left and right eyes of the Mast Camera, or ing 150 images in about 25 minutes. Using the Mastcam
Mastcam investigation. These versatile cameras have 100, the team will be able to see farther off to the sides of

the rovers path, compared with what has been possible it to look directly at the sun to measure the amount of
with earlier Mars rovers. That will help with selection of dust in the atmosphere, a key part of Mars weather.
the most interesting targets to approach for analyzing
with Curiositys other instruments and will provide ad- Mastcams color-calibration target on the rover deck
ditional geological context for interpreting data about the includes magnets to keep the highly magnetic Martian
chosen targets. dust from accumulating on portions of color chips and
white-gray-balance reference chips. Natural lighting on
The Mastcams will provide still images and video to Mars tends to be redder than on Earth due to dust in
study motions of the rover both for science, such Mars atmosphere. True color images can be pro-
as seeing how soils interact with wheels, and for en- duced that incorporate that lighting effect compa-
gineering, such as aiding in use of the robotic arm. In rable to the warm, orange lighting that is experienced at
other videos, the team may use cinematic techniques sunset on Earth. Alternatively, a white-balance calcula-
such as panning across a scene and using the rovers tion can be used to adjust for the tint of the lighting, as
movement for dolly shots. Video from the cameras is the human eye tends to do and digital cameras can do.
720p high definition at four to seven frames per second, The Mastcams are capable of producing both true-color
depending on exposure time. and white-balanced images.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built the The Mastcam principal investigator is Michael Malin, a
Mastcams and two of Curiositys other science instru- geologist who founded Malin Space Science Systems
ments: the Mars Hand Lens Imager and the Mars and has participated in NASA Mars exploration since the
Descent Imager. Mariner 9 mission in 197172.
The four cameras from Malin Space Science Systems Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam)
share several design features. They use a Bayer pat-
tern filter, as found in many commercial digital cameras, The investigation using a rock-zapping laser and a tele-
for color imaging. The charge-coupled device (CCD) scope mounted atop Curiositys mast is the Chemistry
that detects each pixel of the image is covered with a and Camera suite, or ChemCam. It also includes spec-
grid of green, red and blue filters so that the camera trometers and electronics down inside the rover.
gets the three color components over the entire scene
in a single exposure. This is a change from color cam- The laser can hit rock or soil targets up to about 23
eras on earlier Mars landers and rovers, which took a feet (7 meters) away with enough energy to excite a
series of exposures through different filters to be com- pinhead-size spot into a glowing, ionized gas, called
bined into color composites by processing on Earth. plasma. The instrument observes that spark with the
The filter design used for Curiositys science cameras telescope and analyzes the spectrum of light to identify
results in pictures in which the color closely mimics the the chemical elements in the target.
way the average human eye sees the world. Each of
the cameras uses a focusing mechanism from MDA The telescope, with a diameter of 4.33 inches (110
Information Systems Space Division, formerly Alliance millimeters), doubles as the optics for the camera of
Spacesystems, Pasadena, Calif. Each uses a Kodak ChemCam, which records monochrome images on
CCD with an array of 1,600 by 1,200 active pixels. Each a 1,024-pixel-by-1,024-pixel detector. The telescopic
has an eight-gigabyte flash memory. camera, called the remote micro-imager, will show con-
text of the spots hit with the laser. It can also be used
Besides the affixed red-green-blue filter grid, the independently of the laser for observations of targets at
Mastcams have wheels of other color filters that can be any distance.
rotated into place between the lens and the CCD. These
include science spectral filters for examining the ground Information from ChemCam will help researchers survey
or sky in narrow bands of visible-light or near-infrared the rovers surroundings and choose which targets to
wavelengths. These science filters can be used for approach for study with the tools on the arm and the
follow-up observations to gain more information about analytical laboratory instruments. ChemCam can also
rocks or other features of interest identified in red-green- analyze many more targets than those instruments
blue images. One additional filter on each camera allows can. It can be used on multiple targets the same day,

while the analytical laboratory investigations SAM N.M., is the principal investigator for ChemCam. For
and CheMin take multiple days per target. It can also developing, building and testing the instrument, Los
check the composition of targets inaccessible to the Alamos partnered with researchers in France funded
rovers other ingredient-identifying instruments, such as by the French national space agency, Centre National
rock faces beyond the reach of Curiositys robotic arm. dtudes Spatiales. The deputy principal investigator
is Sylvestre Maurice, a spectroscopy expert with the
The spot hit by ChemCams infrared laser gets more Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Plantologie
than a million watts of power focused on it for five at the Observatoire Midi-Pyrnes, Toulouse, France.
one-billionths of a second. Light from the resulting flash
comes back to ChemCam through the telescope, then France provided ChemCams laser and telescope. The
through about 20 feet (6 meters) of optical fiber down laser was built by Thales, Paris, France. Los Alamos
the mast to three spectrometers inside the rover. The National Laboratory supplied the spectrometers and
spectrometers record intensity at 6,144 different wave- data processors. The optical design for the spectrom-
lengths of ultraviolet, visible and infrared light (wave- eters came from Ocean Optics, Dunedin, Fla. The
lengths from 240 to 850 nanometers). Different chemical ChemCam team includes experts in mineralogy, geol-
elements in the target, in their ionized state, emit light ogy, astrobiology and other fields, with some members
at different wavelengths. Dozens of laser pulses on the also on other Curiosity instrument teams.
same spot will be used to achieve the desired accuracy
in identifying elements. Among the many elements that Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)
the instrument can identify in rocks and soils are sodium,
magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, potassium, The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on
titanium, manganese, iron, hydrogen, oxygen, beryllium, Curiositys robotic arm, like its predecessors on the
lithium, strontium, sulfur, nitrogen and phosphorus. arms of all previous Mars rovers, will identify chemical
elements in rocks and soils.
If a rock has a coating of dust or a weathered rind,
hundreds of repeated pulses from the laser can remove The APXS instruments on Sojourner, Spirit and
those layers to provide a reading of the rocks interior Opportunity produced important findings from those
composition and a comparison between the interior and missions, including salty compositions indicative of a
the coating. wet past in bedrocks examined by Opportunity and
the signature of an ancient hot spring or steam vent in
Researchers also plan to use ChemCam to study the soil examined by Spirit. The APXS on Curiosity deliv-
soil at each place Curiosity stops. These observations ers greater sensitivity, better scheduling versatility and a
will document local and regional variations in the soils new mode for optimal positioning.
composition and from images taken through the tele-
scope in the size distribution of soil particles. The Canadian Space Agency contributed this
Canadian-made instrument for the Mars Science
Another capability will be to check for water, either Laboratory. A pinch of radioactive material emits radia-
bound into mineral composition or as frost. By quickly tion that queries the target and an X-ray detector
identifying hydrogen and oxygen, ChemCam can pro- reads the answer.
vide unambiguous identification of water if any is on the
surface in the area Curiosity explores. The APXS sensor head, about the size of a cupcake,
rides on the multi-tool turret at the end of Curiositys
ChemCam uses a technology called laser-induced arm. The rover will place the spectrometers contact-
breakdown spectroscopy. This method of determining sensing surface directly onto most rock targets selected
the composition of an object has been used in other ex- for APXS readings or just above some soil targets.
treme environments, such as inside nuclear reactors and
on the sea floor, and has had experimental applications The instrument determines the abundance of elements
in environmental monitoring and cancer detection, but from sodium to strontium, including the major rock-
ChemCam is its first use in interplanetary exploration. forming and soil-forming elements sodium, magnesium,
aluminum, silicon, calcium, iron and sulfur. In 10-minute
Roger Wiens, a geochemist with the U.S. Department of quick looks, it can detect even minor ingredients down
Energys Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos,

to concentrations of about one-half percent. In three- The additional X-ray intensity will benefit use of a tech-
hour readings, it can detect important trace elements nique called the scatter peak method, which was
down to concentrations of 100 or fewer parts per million. developed by physicist Iain Campbell, an APXS co-
It has a high sensitivity to salt-forming elements such as investigator at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
sulfur, chlorine and bromine, which can indicate interac- This method extracts the content of elements invisible
tion with water in the past. to X-rays, such as oxygen. It was used to detect and
quantify water bound in the minerals of salty subsurface
The APXS will characterize the geological context and soils examined by Spirit at Gusev Crater.
inform choices about acquiring samples for analysis in-
side the missions analytical laboratory instruments: SAM When the spectrometer is in contact with the target, it
and CheMin. Learning which elements, in what concen- examines a patch about 0.7 inch (1.7 centimeters) in
trations, are in the targets will help researchers identify diameter. It detects elements to a depth of about 0.0002
processes that formed the rocks and soils in the area of inch (5 microns) for low-atomic-weight elements and to
Mars where Curiosity is working. about 10 times that depth for heavier elements. The dust
removal tool on Curiositys arm turret can be used to
The spectrometer uses the radioactive element curium brush some rock surfaces clean before APXS examines
as a source to bombard the target with energetic alpha them.
particles (helium nuclei) and X-rays. This causes each el-
ement in the target to emit its own characteristic X-rays, For some soil targets, to avoid pushing the instrument
which are then registered by an X-ray detector chip into the soil, the spectrometer will not be placed in direct
inside the sensor head. The investigations main elec- contact with the target. In those cases, placement will
tronics package, which resides inside the rover, records use a standoff distance of about 0.4 inch (1 centimeter)
all detected X-rays with their energy and assembles the or less.
detections into the X-ray spectrum of this sample.
Another new feature for Curiositys APXS is an autono-
On Spirit and Opportunity, the need for the X-ray detec- mous placement mode. With this software, as the arm
tor chip to stay cold, and the length of time necessary moves the spectrometer step-by-step closer to the soil,
for acquiring a measurement, have restricted most the instrument checks X-rays from the target for several
APXS measurements to Martian nighttime hours. One seconds at each step. When the count rate reaches a
change in Curiositys APXS is the possibility to activate a predetermined criterion of what would be adequate for a
solid-state electric cooler for the detector, for use of the good compositional reading, the software knows, OK.
APXS during Martian daytime. Thats close enough. The arms approach movements
cease and the longer-duration APXS reading begins. A
Curiositys APXS can make measurements in about more complex variation of this autonomous placement
one-third the time needed for equivalent readings by its mode may use brief readings at several positions parallel
predecessors. This improvement in sensitivity results to the ground surface, scanning a larger area for certain
mainly from shrinking the distance between the X-ray compositional criteria, such as ratio of iron to sulfur, and
detector and the sample by about one-third, to 0.75 quickly selecting the most distinctive spots for longer-
inch (19 millimeters). duration readings.
Additional improvement in sensitivity, mainly for heavy Besides examining rocks and soils in place, the science
elements such as iron, comes from increasing the team can use the APXS to check processed samples
amount X-rays emitted by the curium. Curiositys APXS that the arm places on the rovers observation tray and
has about 700 micrograms (in mass) or 60 millicuries soil freshly exposed by action of the rovers wheels. An
(in radioactivity), which is twice as much as Spirits or onboard basaltic rock slab, surrounded by nickel plate,
Opportunitys. Curium is a synthetic element first identi- will be used periodically to check the performance and
fied in a laboratory in 1944. The specific isotope used in calibration of the instrument.
all Mars rovers APXS instruments is curium 244, which
has a half-life of 18.1 years. This makes it ideal for long- The principal investigator for Curiositys APXS is Ralf
duration missions, where even after more than seven Gellert, a physicist at the University of Guelph in Ontario,
years of the Opportunity mission, the loss in activity is Canada. He was part of the team that designed and
hardly noticeable. built the Spirit and Opportunity APXS instruments at

the Max Planck Institute in Mainz, Germany, and pro- The camera can be held at a series of different dis-
vided the new scientific design for the Mars Science tances from a target to show context as well as detail
Laboratory APXS based on the experience gained by adjusting the focus. At about 3 feet (1 meter) from
through the long operation of those predecessors. MDA, a target, it still has a pixel resolution of about 0.02 inch
in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, built the instrument as (half a millimeter) in a view covering an area about 2 feet
the prime contractor for the Canadian Space Agency. (70 centimeters) wide. By manipulation of arm position
and focus, the camera can be used to examine hard-
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) ware on the rover or record time-lapse views of activi-
ties such as opening a sample inlet cover.
The Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, is a focusable
color camera on the tool-bearing turret at the end of MAHLI has two sets of white light-emitting diodes to
Curiositys robotic arm. Researchers will use it for magni- enable imaging at night or in deep shadow. Two other
fied, close-up views of rocks and soils, and also for light-emitting diodes on the instrument glow at the ultra-
wider scenes of the ground, the landscape or even the violet wavelength of 365 nanometers. These will make it
rover. Essentially, it is a hand-held camera with a macro possible to check for materials that fluoresce under this
lens and autofocus. illumination.
The investigation takes its name from the type of hand Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed,
lens magnifying tool that every field geologist carries for built and operates MAHLI. This camera shares some
seeing details in rocks. Color, crystal shapes, mineral traits with three other cameras on Curiosity from the
cleavage planes and other visible details from such same company. It uses a red-green-blue filter grid like
close-up observation provide clues to a rocks composi- the one on commercial digital cameras for obtaining a
tion. In sedimentary rocks, the sizes and shapes of the full-color image with a single exposure. Its image detec-
grains in the rock, and the scale of fine layering, provide tor is a charge-coupled device with an array of 1,600 by
information about how the grains were transported 1,200 active pixels. It stores images in an eight-gigabyte
and deposited. Sharp-edge grains have not been worn flash memory, and it can perform an onboard focus
down by tumbling long distances, for example. The size merge of eight images to reduce from eight to two the
of grains can indicate whether the water or wind that number of images returned to Earth in downlink-limited
carried them was moving quickly or not. situations.
These clues garnered from MAHLI images can aid both Curiosity carries a vertically mounted calibration target
in selection of which targets to analyze with other instru- for MAHLI, for checking color, white balance, resolution,
ments and in directly reading the environmental history focus and the ultraviolet illumination.
recorded in the rocks and soils the rover encounters.
Ken Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems, a ge-
As a close-up magnifying camera, MAHLI resembles ologist who has helped run cameras on several Mars
the Microscopic Imager instrument mounted at the orbiters, is the principal investigator for MAHLI. A uni-
end of the robotic arm on each of the twin Mars rovers fied imaging-science team for the three Malin-supplied
Spirit and Opportunity. MAHLI has significantly greater instruments combines experience in geologic field
capabilities than those predecessors, however: full color, work, Mars exploration and space cameras.
lights and adjustable focus. Also, it sits on a longer arm,
one that can hold MAHLI up higher than the cameras on Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin)
the rovers mast for seeing over an obstacle or capturing
a rover self-portrait. The Chemistry and Mineralogy experiment, or CheMin,
is one of two investigations that will analyze powdered
When positioned at its closest range about 0.8 inch rock and soil samples delivered by Curiositys robotic
(21 millimeters) from its target the cameras images arm. It will identify and quantify the minerals in the
have a resolution of slightly less than one one-thou- samples. Minerals provide a durable record of past
sandth of an inch (14 microns) per pixel. The field of environmental conditions, including information about
view for that close-up is a rectangle about 0.9 inch (2.2 possible ingredients and energy sources for life.
centimeters) by 0.7 inch (1.7 centimeters).

CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, a first for a mission to vibration, at about 200 cycles per second (middle C on
Mars. This is a more definitive method for identifying a piano is 261 cycles per second) also helps keep the
minerals than was possible with any instrument on previ- powder flowing during filling and dumping of the cell.
ous missions. The investigation supplements the diffrac-
tion measurements with X-ray fluorescence capability to CheMin generates X-rays by aiming high-energy elec-
determine further details of composition by identifying trons at a target of cobalt. The X-rays emitted by the
ratios of specific elements present. cobalt are then directed into a narrow beam. During
analysis, the sample sits between the incoming beam
X-ray diffraction works by directing an X-ray beam at on one side and the instruments detector on the other.
a sample and recording how X-rays are scattered by The detector is a charge-coupled device like the ones in
the sample at the atomic level. All minerals are crystal- electronic cameras, but sensitive to X-ray wavelengths
line, and in crystalline materials, atoms are arranged and cooled to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60
in an orderly, periodic structure, causing the X-rays to degrees Celsius).
be scattered at predictable angles. From those angles,
researchers can deduce the spacing between planes Each CheMin analysis of a sample requires up to 10
of atoms in the crystal. Each different mineral yields a hours of accumulating data while the X-rays are hit-
known, characteristic series of spacings and intensities, ting the sample. The time may be split into two or more
its own fingerprint. Martian nights of operation.
On Curiositys deck, near the front of the rover, one fun- The X-ray diffraction data show the angles at which the
nel with a removable cover leads through the deck top primary X-rays from the beam are deflected and the
to the CheMin instrument inside the rover. The instru- intensity at each angle. The detector also reads second-
ment is a cube about 10 inches (25 centimeters) on ary X-rays emitted by the sample itself when it is excited
each side, weighing about 22 pounds (10 kilograms). by the primary X-rays. This is the X-ray fluorescence
information. Different elements emit secondary X-rays at
The rover acquires rock samples with a percussive drill different frequencies. CheMins X-ray fluorescence capa-
and soil samples with a scoop. A sample processing bility can detect elements with an atomic number greater
tool on the robotic arm puts the powdered rock or soil than 11 (sodium) in the periodic table.
through a sieve designed to remove any particles larger
than 0.006 inch (150 microns) before delivering the ma- Instruments that previous missions to Mars have used
terial into the CheMin inlet funnel. Vibration helps move for studying Martian minerals have not been able to
the sample material now a gritty powder down the provide definitive identification of all types of minerals.
funnel. Each sample analysis will use about as much CheMin will be able to do so for minerals present in
material as in a baby aspirin. samples above minimal detection limits of about 3 per-
cent of the sample composition. The instrument will also
The funnel delivers the sample into a disc-shaped cell, indicate the approximate concentrations of different min-
about the diameter of a shirt button and thickness of a erals in the sample. X-ray fluorescence can add informa-
business card. The walls of the sample cell are transpar- tion about the ratio of elements in types of minerals with
ent plastic. Thirty-two of these cells are mounted around variable elemental composition, such as the proportion
the perimeter of a sample wheel. Rotating the wheel can of iron to magnesium in iron magnesium sulfate (olivine).
position any cell into the instruments X-ray beam. Five It can also aid in identifying non-crystalline ingredients in
cells hold reference samples from Earth to help calibrate a sample, such as volcanic glass.
the instrument. The other 27 are reusable holders for
Martian samples. Each type of mineral forms under a certain set of en-
vironmental conditions: the chemistry present (includ-
Each pair of cells is mounted on a metal holder that ing water), the temperature and the pressure. Thus,
resembles a tuning fork. A tiny piezoelectric buzzer ex- CheMins identification of minerals will provide informa-
cites the fork to keep the particles in the sample moving tion about the environment at the time and place where
inside the cell during analysis of the sample. This puts the minerals in the rocks and soils formed or were
the particles in a random mix of orientations to the X-ray altered. Some minerals the instrument might detect,
beam, improving detection of how the mineral crys- such as phosphates, carbonates, sulfates and silica, can
tals in the sample scatter the X-rays. The piezoelectric help preserve biosignatures. Whether or not the mission

determines that the landing area has offered a favorable power of just 40 watts. More than a third of a mile (more
habitat for life, the inventory of minerals identified by than 600 meters) of wiring is inside SAM.
CheMin will provide information about processes in the
evolution of the planets environment. SAM can detect a fainter trace of organics and identify
a wider variety of them than any instrument yet sent to
David Blake, an expert in cosmochemistry and exobiol- Mars. It also can provide information about other ingre-
ogy at NASAs Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, dients of life and clues to past environments.
Calif., is the principal investigator for CheMin. He began
work in 1989 on a compact X-ray diffraction instrument One of SAMs tools, a mass spectrometer like those
for use in planetary missions. His work with colleagues seen in many TV crime-solving laboratories, identifies
has resulted in commercial portable instruments for use gases by the molecular weight and electrical charge of
in geological field work on Earth, as well as the CheMin their ionized states. It will check for several elements
investigation. The spinoff instruments have found ap- important for life as we know it, including nitrogen, phos-
plications in screening for counterfeit pharmaceuticals in phorous, sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen and carbon.
developing nations and in analyzing archaeological finds.
Another tool, a tunable laser spectrometer, uses absorp-
NASA Ames Research Center won the 2010 tion of light at specific wavelengths to measure concen-
Commercial Invention of the Year Award from NASA trations of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor.
for the tuning-fork powder vibration system used on It also identifies the proportions of different isotopes in
CheMin. Blake and Philippe Sarazin of inXitu Inc., those gases. Isotopes are variants of the same element
Campbell, Calif., a co-investigator on the CheMin team, with different atomic weights, such as carbon-13 and
developed the technology while Sarazin was working as carbon-12, or oxygen-18 and oxygen-16. Ratios of
a post-doctoral fellow at Ames. isotopes can be signatures of planetary processes,
such as how Mars might have lost much of its former
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) atmosphere.
The Sample Analysis at Mars investigation, or SAM, will The suites third analytical tool, a gas chromatograph,
use a suite of three analytical tools inside Curiosity to separates different gases from a mixture to aid identifi-
study chemistry relevant to life. One key job is check- cation. It detects organic compounds exiting a capillary
ing for carbon-based compounds that on Earth are column, and then it feeds the separated fractions to the
molecular building blocks of life. It will also examine the mass spectrometer for a more definitive identification.
chemical state of other elements important for life, and
it will assess ratios of different atomic weights of certain SAM also includes a sample manipulation system, and
elements for clues about planetary change and ongoing a chemical separation and processing laboratory to
processes. support the analytical tools. The sample manipulation
system maneuvers 74 sample cups, each about one-
SAM will examine gases from the Martian atmosphere sixth of a teaspoon (0.78 cubic centimeter) in volume.
and gases that ovens and solvents pull from powered The chemical separation and processing laboratory
rock and soil samples. Curiositys robotic arm will deliver includes pumps, tubing, carrier-gas reservoirs, pressure
the powdered samples to one of two inlet funnels on the monitors, ovens, temperature monitors and other com-
rover deck. Atmospheric samples enter through filtered ponents. Fifty-two specially designed microvalves direct
inlet ports on the side of the rover. the flow of gas through the system. Two soft-drink-can-
size vacuum pumps rotate 100,000 times per minute
SAMs analytical tools fit into a microwave-oven-size box to allow all three instruments to operate at their optimal
inside the front end of the rover. While it is the biggest of pressures.
the 10 instruments on Curiosity, this tightly packed box
holds instrumentation that would take up a good portion SAMs analysis of material from Martian rocks or soils
of a laboratory room on Earth. One focus during de- begins after powder collected and processed by tools
velopment was power efficiency. For example, the two on the arm is dropped into one of SAMs two solid-sam-
ovens heat powdered samples to about 1,800 degrees ple inlets while the inlets protective cover is open. The
Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius) drawing a maximum inlet tubes are highly polished funnels that vibrate to get
the powder to fall into a reusable sample cup.

Fifty-nine of the instruments 74 cups are quartz that Viking came up negative for organics. SAM renews the
can be heated to very high temperatures. The sample search with three advantages.
manipulation system pushes the quartz cup holding
the powder into an oven that heats it to about 1,800 The first is Curiositys access. Mars is diverse, not
degrees Fahrenheit (about 1,000 degrees Celsius. That uniform. Copious information gained from Mars orbiters
process releases gas from the sample at various tem- in recent years has enabled the choice of a landing site
peratures, depending on the chemistry of the sample. with favorable attributes, such as exposures of clay and
The mass spectrometer measures the release continu- sulfate minerals good at entrapping organic chemicals.
ously. Some of the gas goes to the tunable laser spec- Mobility helps too, especially with the aid of high-resolu-
trometer for measurement of isotopes. Some goes to tion geologic mapping generated from orbital observa-
a trap that concentrates any organics, then to the gas tions. The stationary Viking landers could examine only
chromatograph and mass spectrometer. After use, the what their arms could reach. Curiosity can use mapped
quartz cup can be baked to prepare it for re-use with geologic context as a guide in its mobile search for
another sample. organics and other clues about habitable environments.
Additionally, SAM will be able to analyze samples from
Six of the cups hold calibration solids. SAM also carries more protected interiors of rocks drilled into by Curiosity,
samples of gases for calibration. rather than being restricted to soil samples, as Viking
was.
Nine of the cups are for using a solvent method called
derivatization, rather than high temperature, to pull gases Second, SAM has improved sensitivity, with a capabil-
from samples of Martian rocks and soils. If the mis- ity to detect less than one part-per-billion of an organic
sion finds a site rich in organics, this method could be compound over a wider mass range of molecules and
used to identify larger and more reactive organic mol- after heating samples to a higher temperature.
ecules than is possible with the high-heat method. Each
derivatization cup contains a mixture of a solvent and a Third, the derivatization method for assessing organ-
chemical that, after it reacts with a compound of interest, ics in some SAM samples can reveal a wider range of
turns it into a more volatile compound that can be sepa- organic compounds than was possible with the Viking
rated in the gas chromatograph. These chemicals are experiment. In doing so, it can also check a recent hy-
entirely sealed in with a foil cover. For analysis of sample pothesis that a reactive chemical recently discovered in
powder from a Martian rock or soil by this method, the Martian soil perchlorate may have masked organ-
sample manipulation system punctures the foil and adds ics in soil samples baked during Viking tests.
the powder to the liquid in the cup, and the oven heats
the sample to a modest temperature to let the reactions If SAM does not detect any organics, that would be
proceed rapidly. useful information about the unfavorable conditions for
life near the Martian surface. Future missions might look
Curiositys follow the carbon investigation of organic deeper.
compounds begins as a check for whether any are pres-
ent. Although organic molecules are not, in themselves, If SAM does detect organics, one challenge will be
evidence of life, life as we know it cannot exist without to confirm that these molecules are truly Martian, not
them. Their presence would be important evidence stowaways from Earth carried to Mars on Curiosity. The
both about habitability and about the sites capability for rover carries five encapsulated bricks of organic check
preserving evidence of life. Meteorites bearing organic material to enable control experiments. The check
compounds have pelted Mars, as well as Earth, for material is a silicon-dioxide ceramic laced with small
billions of years. Uncertainty remains, however, about amounts of synthetic fluorinated organic chemicals not
whether any organics close enough to the surface for found in nature on Earth and not expected on Mars.
Curiosity to reach them can persist in the harsh condi- The basic control experiment will collect a powdered
tions there without the carbon in them transforming into sample from an organic check brick with the same drill-
a more polymerized state. ing, processing and delivery system used for collecting
samples from Martian rocks, and then will analyze the
NASAs investigation of organics on Mars began with sample with SAM. If SAM finds any organics other than
the twin Viking landers in 1976. The original reports from the fluorine-containing markers, they will be stowaway

suspects. If only the markers are detected, that would Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS)
verify that organic-detection is working and that the
sample-acquisition and handling pathway has passed a The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station, or REMS,
test of being clean of organic stowaways. That con- will record information about daily and seasonal chang-
trol experiment can assess characteristics of organic es in Martian weather.
contamination at five different times during the mission,
using the five bricks of organic check material. This investigation will assess wind speed, wind direction,
air pressure, relative humidity, air temperature, ground
If organic chemicals are present in Martian samples, temperature, and ultraviolet radiation. Operational plans
SAMs inventory of the types and mixtures may provide call for taking measurements for at least five minutes
clues to their origin. For example, organics delivered every hour of the full-Martian-year (98-week) mission.
by meteorites without involvement of biology come
with more random chemical structures than the pat- Spain provided this instrument for the Mars Science
terns seen in mixtures of organic chemicals produced Laboratory.
by organisms. Patterns, such as a predominance of
molecules with an even number of carbon atoms, could Information about wind, temperatures and humidity
be suggestive of biological origin. The derivatization comes from electronic sensors on two finger-like booms
process also allows searching for specific classes of extending horizontally from partway up the main vertical
organics with known importance to life on Earth. For mast holding the ChemCam laser and the Mastcam.
example, it can identify amino acids, the chain links of Each of the booms holds a sensor for recording air tem-
proteins. While these clues may not add up to a defini- perature and three sensors for detecting air movement
tive case either for or against biological origin, they could in three dimensions. Placement of the booms at an
provide important direction for future missions. angle of 120 degrees from each other enables calculat-
ing the velocity even when the main mast is blocking the
Methane is one of the simplest organic molecules. wind from one direction. The boom pointing toward the
Observations from Mars orbit and from Earth in recent front of the rover, Boom 2, also holds the humidity sen-
years have suggested transient methane in Mars atmo- sor inside a downward-tilted protective cylinder. Boom
sphere, which would mean methane is being actively 1, pointing to the side and slightly toward the rear, holds
added and then removed from the atmosphere of Mars. an infrared sensor for measuring ground temperature.
With SAMs laser spectrometer, researchers will check
to confirm whether methane is present, monitor any The pressure sensor sits inside the rover body, con-
changes in its concentration, and look for clues about nected to the external atmosphere by a tube to a small,
whether Mars methane is produced by biological activity dust-shielded opening on the deck. Electronics control-
or by processes that do not require life. ling REMS are also inside the rover body.
The principal investigator for SAM is Paul Mahaffy, The ultraviolet sensor is on the rover deck. It measures
a chemist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, six different wavelength bands in the ultraviolet por-
Greenbelt, Md. He is a veteran of using spacecraft tion of the electromagnetic spectrum, including wave-
instruments to study planetary atmospheres. Mahaffy lengths also monitored from above by NASAs Mars
has coordinated work of hundreds of people in several Reconnaissance Orbiter. No previous mission to the
states and Europe to develop, build and test SAM after surface of Mars has measured the full ultraviolet spec-
NASA selected his teams proposal for it in 2004. trum of radiation.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center built and tested The REMS investigation will strengthen understanding
SAM. Frances space agency, Centre National dtudes about the global atmosphere of Mars and contribute to
Spatiales, provided support to French researchers who the missions evaluation of habitability.
developed SAMs gas chromatograph. NASAs Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., provided the The data will provide a way to verify and improve atmo-
laser spectrometer. Honeybee Robotics, New York, sphere modeling based mainly on observations from
designed SAMs sample manipulation system. Mars orbiters. For example, significant fractions of the
Martian atmosphere freeze onto the ground as a south

polar carbon-dioxide ice cap during southern winter and Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)
as a north polar carbon-dioxide ice cap during northern
winter, returning to the atmosphere in each hemispheres The Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, investiga-
spring. At Curiositys landing site, far from either pole, tion on Curiosity will monitor high-energy atomic and
REMS will check whether seasonal patterns of changing subatomic particles reaching Mars from the sun, from
air pressure fit the existing models for effects of the com- distant supernovas and other sources. These particles
ing and going of polar carbon-dioxide ice. constitute naturally occurring radiation that could be
harmful to any microbes near the surface of Mars or to
Monitoring ground temperature with the other weather astronauts on a future Mars mission.
data could aid in assessment of whether conditions have
been favorable for microbial life. Even in the extremely RADs measurements will help fulfill the Mars Science
low-humidity conditions anticipated in the landing area, Laboratory missions key goals of assessing whether
the combination of ground temperature and humidity Curiositys landing region has had conditions favorable
information could provide insight about the interaction of for life and for preserving evidence about life. This in-
water vapor between the soil and the atmosphere. If the vestigation will also do an additional job. Unlike the rest
environment supports, or ever supported, any under- of the mission, RAD has a special task and funding from
ground microbes, that interaction could be crucial. the part of NASA that is planning human exploration
beyond Earth orbit. It will aid design of human missions
Ultraviolet radiation can also affect habitability. The ul- by reducing uncertainty about how much shielding
traviolet measurements by REMS will allow scientists to from radiation future astronauts will need. RAD will take
better predict the amount of ultraviolet light that reaches measurements during the trip from Earth to Mars as well
Mars surface globally in the present and past. Ultraviolet as during Curiositys roving on Mars because the radia-
light is destructive to organic material and the reason tion levels in interplanetary space are also important in
that sunscreen is worn on Earth. design of human missions.
The principal investigator for REMS is Javier Gmez- The 3.8-pound (1.7-kilogram) RAD instrument has a
Elvira, an aeronautical engineer with the Center for wide-angle telescope looking upward from the hard-
Astrobiology (Centro de Astrobiologa), Madrid, Spain. wares position inside the left-front area of the rover.
The center is affiliated with the Spanish National The telescope has detectors for charged particles with
Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones masses up to that of an iron ion. RAD can also de-
Cientficas) and the National Institute for Aerospace tect neutrons and gamma rays coming from the Mars
Technology (Instituto Nacional de Tcnica Aerospacial). atmosphere above or the Mars surface material below
Spains Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio de the rover.
Ciencia e Innovacin) and Spains Center for Industrial
Technology Development (Centro para el Desarrollo Galactic cosmic rays make up one type of radiation
Tecnolgico Industrial) supplied REMS. The Finnish that RAD will monitor. These are a variable shower of
Meterological Insitute developed the pressure sensor. charged particles coming from supernova explosions
and other events extremely far from our solar system.
To develop the instrument and prepare for analyzing
the data it will provide, Spain has assembled a team of The sun is the other main source of energetic particles
about 40 researchers engineers and scientists. that this investigation will detect and characterize. The
sun spews electrons, protons and heavier ions in solar
The team plans to post daily weather reports from particle events fed by solar flares and ejections of mat-
Curiosity. Air temperature around the rover mast will likely ter from the suns corona. Astronauts might need to
drop to about minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (about move into havens with extra shielding on an interplan-
minus 90 degrees Celsius) on some winter nights and etary spacecraft or on Mars during solar particle events.
climb to about minus 22 Fahrenheit (about minus 30
Celsius) during winter days. In warmer seasons, after- Earths magnetic field and atmosphere provide effective
noon air temperature could reach a balmy 32 Fahrenheit shielding against the possible deadly effects of galactic
(0 degrees Celsius). cosmic rays and solar particle events. Mars lacks a
global magnetic field and has only about one percent
as much atmosphere as Earth does. Just to find high-

enough radiation levels on Earth for checking and cali- RADs principal investigator is physicist Don Hassler
brating RAD, the instrument team needed to put it inside of the Southwest Research Institutes Boulder, Colo.,
major particle-accelerator research facilities in the United branch. His international team of co-investigators
States, Europe, Japan and South Africa. includes experts in instrument design, astronaut safety,
atmospheric science, geology and other fields.
The radiation environment at the surface of Mars has
never been fully characterized. NASAs Mars Odyssey Southwest Research Institute in Boulder and in San
orbiter, which reached Mars in 2001, assessed radiation Antonio, Texas, together with Christian Albrechts
levels above the Martian atmosphere with an investiga- University in Kiel, Germany, built RAD with funding from
tion named the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment. the NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate
Current estimates of the radiation environment at the and Germanys national aerospace research center,
surface rely on modeling of how the thin atmosphere Deutsches Zentrum fr Luft- und Raumfahrt.
affects the energetic particles, but uncertainty in the
modeling remains large. A single energetic particle hitting Measurements of ultraviolet radiation by Curiositys
the top of the atmosphere can break up into a cascade Rover Environmental Monitoring Station will supplement
of lower-energy particles that might be more damaging RADs measurements of other types of radiation.
than a single high-energy particle.
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)
In addition to its precursor role for human exploration,
RAD will contribute to the missions assessment of The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons investigation, or DAN,
Mars habitability for microbes and search for organics. can detect water bound into shallow underground min-
Radiation levels probably make the surface of modern erals along Curiositys path.
Mars inhospitable for microbial life and would con-
tribute to the breakdown of any near-surface organic The DAN instrument shoots neutrons into the ground
compounds. The measurements from RAD will feed and measures how they are scattered, giving it a high
calculations of how deeply a possible future robot on a sensitivity for finding any hydrogen to a depth of about
life-detection mission might need to dig or drill to reach a 20 inches (50 centimeters) directly beneath the rover.
microbial safe zone. For assessing whether the surface
radiation environment could have been hospitable for The Russian Federal Space Agency contributed DAN
microbes in Mars distant past, researchers will combine to NASA as part of a broad collaboration between the
RADs measurements with estimates of how the activity United States and Russia in the exploration of space.
of the sun and the atmosphere of Mars have changed in
the past few billion years. The instrument can be used in reconnaissance to iden-
tify places for examination with Curiositys other tools.
Radiation levels in interplanetary space vary on many Also, rock formations that Curiositys cameras view
time scales, from much longer than a year to shorter at the surface may be traced underground by DAN,
than an hour. Assessing the modern radiation environ- enhancing the ability of scientists to understand the
ment on the surface will not come from a one-time set of geology.
measurements. Operational planning for Curiosity antici-
pates that RAD will record measurements for 15 minutes DAN will bring to the surface of Mars an enhancement
of every hour throughout the prime mission, on steady of nuclear technology that has already detected Martian
watch so that it can catch any rare but vitally important water from orbit. Albedo in the investigations name
solar particle events. means reflectance in this case, how high-energy
neutrons injected into the ground bounce off of atomic
The first science data from the mission will come from nuclei in the ground. Neutrons that collide with hydro-
RADs measurements during the trip from Earth to Mars. gen atoms bounce off with a characteristic decrease in
These en-route measurements will, first, enable correla- energy, like one billiard ball hitting another. By measuring
tions with instruments on other spacecraft that monitor the energies of the reflected neutrons, DAN can detect
solar particle events and galactic cosmic rays in Earths the fraction that was slowed in these collisions, and
neighborhood and then will yield data about the radiation therefore the amount of hydrogen.
environment farther from Earth.

Oil prospectors use this technology in instruments check for any changes or trends in subsurface hydro-
lowered down exploration holes to detect the hydrogen gen content from place to place along the traverse.
in petroleum. Space explorers have adapted it for mis-
sions to the moon and Mars, where most hydrogen is in Russias Space Research Institute developed the DAN
water ice or in water-derived hydroxyl ions. instrument in close cooperation with the N.L. Dukhov
All-Russia Research Institute of Automatics, Moscow,
DAN Principal Investigator Igor Mitrofanov of Space and the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research, Dubna.
Research Institute, Moscow, is also the principal in-
vestigator for a Russian instrument on NASAs Mars Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
Odyssey orbiter, the high energy neutron detector,
which measures high energy of neutrons coming During the final few minutes of Curiositys flight to the
from Mars. In 2002, it and companion instruments on surface of Mars, the Mars Descent Imager, or MARDI,
Odyssey detected hydrogen interpreted as abundant will record a full-color video of the ground below. This
underground water ice close to the surface at high will provide the Mars Science Laboratory team with in-
latitudes. formation about the landing site and its surroundings, to
aid interpretation of the rovers ground-level views and
The neutron detectors on Odyssey rely on galactic cos- planning of initial drives. Hundreds of the images taken
mic rays hitting Mars as a source of neutrons. DAN can by the camera will show features smaller than what can
work in a passive mode relying on cosmic rays, but it be discerned in images taken from orbit.
also has its own pulsing neutron generator for an active
mode of shooting high-energy neutrons into the ground. The video will also give fans worldwide an unprecedent-
In active mode, it is sensitive enough to detect water ed sense of riding a spacecraft to a landing on Mars.
content as low as one-tenth of 1 percent in the ground
beneath the rover. MARDI will record the video on its own 8 gigabyte flash
memory at about four frames per second and close to
The neutron generator is mounted on Curiositys right 1,600 by 1,200 pixels per frame. Thumbnails and a few
hip, a pair of neutron detectors on the left hip. Pulses samples of full-resolution frames will be transmitted to
last about one microsecond and repeat as frequently as Earth in the first days after landing. The nested set of
10 times per second. The detectors measure the flow of images from higher altitude to ground level will enable
moderated neutrons with different energy levels return- pinpointing of Curiositys location. The pace of sending
ing from the ground, and their delay times. Neutrons the rest of the frames for full-resolution video will de-
that arrive later may indicate water buried beneath a pend on sharing priority with data from the rovers other
drier soil layer. The generator will be able to emit a total investigations.
of about 10 million pulses during the mission, with about
10 million neutrons at each pulse. The full video available first from the thumbnails in
YouTube-like resolution and later in full detail will
The most likely form of hydrogen in the ground of the begin with a glimpse of the heat shield falling away from
landing area is hydrated minerals. These are minerals beneath the rover. The first views of the ground will
with water molecules or hydroxyl ions bound into the cover an area several kilometers (a few miles) across.
crystalline structure of the mineral. They can tenaciously Successive frames taken as the vehicle descends will
retain water from a wetter past when all free water has close in and cover successively smaller areas. The video
gone. DAN may also detect water that comes and will likely nod up and down to fairly large angles owing
goes with the Martian seasons, such as soil moisture to parachute-induced oscillations. Its roll clockwise and
that varies with the atmospheric humidity. Together counterclockwise will be smaller, as thrusters on the de-
with Curiositys cameras and weather station, DAN will scent stage control that motion. When the parachute is
observe how the sparse water cycle on Mars works in jettisoned, the video will show large angular motions as
the present. DAN also could detect any water ice in the the descent vehicle maneuvers to avoid re-contacting
shallow subsurface, a low probability at Curiositys Gale the back shell and parachute. Rocket engine vibration
Crater landing site. may also be seen. A few seconds before landing, the
rover will be lowered on tethers beneath the descent
Operational planning anticipates using DAN during short stage, and the video will show the relatively slow ap-
pauses in drives and while the rover is parked. It will proach to the surface. The final frames, after landing,

will cover a bath-towel-size patch of ground under the eras CCD is covered with a grid of green, red and blue
front-left corner of the rover. filters so that each exposure samples all of those colors
throughout the field of view. A piece of white material
Besides the main objective of providing geologic context on the inside surface of the heat shield will serve as a
for the observations and operations of the rover during white-balance target as the heat shield falls away at the
the early part of mission on Mars, MARDI will provide beginning of the recorded descent video.
insight about Mars atmosphere. Combining informa-
tion from the descent images with information from the Malin Space Science Systems also provided descent
spacecrafts motion sensors will allow for calculating imagers for NASAs Mars Polar Lander, launched in
wind speeds affecting the spacecraft on its way down, 1999, and Phoenix Mars Lander, launched in 2007.
an important atmospheric science measurement. The However, the former craft was lost during its landing and
descent data will later aid in designing and testing future the latter did not use its descent imager due to concern
landing systems for Mars that could add more control for about the spacecrafts data-handling capabilities during
hazard avoidance. crucial moments just before landing.
Throughout Curiositys mission on Mars, MARDI will offer Engineering Instruments

the capability to obtain images of ground beneath the
rover at resolutions down to 0.06 inch (1.5 millimeters) Some of the tools that primarily serve engineering
per pixel, for precise tracking of its movements or for purposes on Mars Science Laboratory will also gener-
geologic mapping. The science team will decide whether ate information useful to scientific understanding about
or not to use that capability. Each day of operations on Mars. Most of these, including the engineering cameras
Mars will require choices about how to budget power, and the drill, are described in the spacecraft section
data and time. of this document. One set of instruments carried on
the heat shield of the spacecrafts entry vehicle serves
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, provided specifically to gather data about the Martian atmosphere
MARDI, as well as three other cameras on Curiosity: and performance of the heat shield for use in design-
the Mast Camera pair and the Mars Hand Lens Imager. ing future systems for descending through planetary
Michael Malin is the principal investigator for MARDI, atmospheres.
which shares a unified imaging-science team with the
other two instruments from his company. MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument
(MEDLI) Suite
MARDI consists of two parts: the wide-angle camera
mounted toward the front of the port side of Curiosity A set of sensors attached to the heat shield of the Mars
and a digital electronics assembly inside the warm Science Laboratory (MSL) is collectively named the MSL
electronics box of the rovers chassis. The instruments Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) Suite.
electronics, including the 1,600-pixel-by-1,200-pixel MEDLI will take measurements eight times per second
charge-coupled device (CCD) in the camera, are the during the period from about 10 minutes before the ve-
same design as used in the Mast Camera and Mars hicle enters the top of the Martian atmosphere until after
Hand Lens Imager. the parachute has opened, about four minutes after
entry. The measurements will be analyzed for informa-
The rectangular field of the CCD sits within a 90-degree tion about atmospheric conditions and performance of
circular field of view of the camera lens, yielding a re- the entry vehicle.
corded field of view of 70 degrees by 55 degrees. From
an altitude of 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) during descent that Due to the mass of the entry vehicle (5,359 pounds, or
will provide a resolution of about 5 feet (1.5 meters) per 2,431 kilograms, after jettison of the spacecrafts cruise
pixel, though swinging and shaking of the spacecraft will stage), the diameter of its heat shield (14.8 feet, or 4.5
likely blur some frames despite a fast (1.3 millisecond) meters) and the speed at which the vehicle will enter the
exposure time. atmosphere (13,645 miles per hour, or 6.1 kilometers
per second), the heating and stress on the heat shield
Color information comes from a Bayer pattern filter array, will be the highest ever for an entry vehicle at Mars.
as used in many commercial digital cameras. The cam- Experience gained with this mission will aid planning for

future missions that could be even heavier and larger, plugs has thermocouples to measure temperatures at
such as would be necessary for a human mission to four different depths in the heat shields thermal protec-
Mars. tion tiles, plus a sensor to measure the rate at which
heat shield material is removed due to atmospheric
Models of the Martian atmosphere, heating environ- entry heating.
ments, vehicle aerodynamics, and heat-shield per-
formance, among other factors, were employed in Analysis of data from the pressure sensors and iner-
designing the Mars Science Laboratory entry vehicle. tial measurement unit will provide an altitude profile of
Uncertainties in these parameters must also be mod- atmospheric density and winds, plus information about
eled. To account for those uncertainties, the design pressure distribution on the heat shield surface, orienta-
incorporates large margins for success. The margin tion of the entry vehicle and velocity. Data from the tem-
comes at a cost of additional mass. The goal of MEDLI perature sensors will be used to evaluate peak heating,
is to better quantify these atmospheric entry character- distribution of heating over the heat shield, turbulence
istics and possibly reduce unnecessary mass on future in the flow of gas along the entry vehicles surface, and
Mars missions, by collecting data on the performance in-depth performance of the heat shield material.
of the Mars Science Laboratory entry vehicle during its
atmospheric entry and descent. NASAs Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (which
has responsibility for planning human missions be-
MEDLI consists of seven pressure sensors (Mars entry yond Earth orbit) and Aeronautics Research Mission
atmospheric data system sensor, or MEADS), seven Directorate (which invests in fundamental research
plugs with multiple temperature sensors (Mars integrat- of atmospheric flight) have funded MEDLI. F. McNeil
ed sensor plug, or MISP) and a support electronics box. Cheatwood of NASAs Langley Research Center,
Data from the entry vehicles inertial measurement unit, Hampton, Va., is the principal investigator for MEDLI.
which senses changes in velocity and direction, will aug- Deputy principal investigator is Michael Wright of
ment the MEDLI data. Each of the temperature-sensing NASAs Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

Mission Overview
NASAs Mars Science Laboratory mission will put a bers in the 541 designation signify a payload fairing, or
mobile laboratory onto the surface inside Gale Crater nose cone, that is approximately 5 meters (16.4 feet) in
on Mars and use it to investigate the areas past and diameter; four solid-rocket boosters fastened alongside
present environments. The landing will use active guid- the central common core booster; and a one-engine
ance for improved landing accuracy and a skycrane Centaur upper stage.
for touchdown. The mobile laboratory is the Curiosity
rover, equipped with 10 science investigations and a Centerpiece of the first stage is the common core
robotic arm that can drill into rocks, scoop up soil and booster, 106.5 feet (32.5 meters) in length and 12.5
deliver samples to internal analytical instruments. The feet (3.8 meters) in diameter. It has a throttleable,
mission will assess whether the area has offered condi- RD-180 engine from a joint venture of Pratt & Whitney
tions favorable for life and favorable for preserving a rock Rocketdyne, West Palm Beach, Fla., and NPO
record of evidence about whether life has existed there. Energomash, Moscow. Thermally stable kerosene fuel
Curiosity has the capability to drive for 12.4 miles (20 (type RP-1) and liquid oxygen will be loaded shortly
kilometers) or more during a mission lasting one Martian before launch into cylindrical fuel tanks that make up
year (98 weeks). about half of the total height of the vehicle. The common
core booster can provide thrust of up to about 850,000
Launch Vehicle pounds (3.8 million newtons) at full throttle.
A two-stage Atlas V 541 launch vehicle will lift the Mars Four solid rocket boosters strapped onto the common
Science Laboratory spacecraft from Launch Complex core booster add to the thrust that will be produced by
41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The vehicle the first stage. Each of these boosters is 64 feet (19.5
is provided by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of meters) long and 61 inches (155 centimeters) in diam-
Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. The thee num-
Atlas V 541 launch vehicle, expanded view


eter, and delivers about 306,000 pounds (1.36 million One priority for choice of a launch period within the
newtons) of thrust. range of possible dates has been to have the landing
occur when NASA orbiters at Mars are passing over
Two interstage adaptors connect the first stage of the landing site so they can receive radio transmissions
the Atlas with its Centaur upper stage. The Centaur from the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during
has a restartable RL-10 engine from Pratt & Whitney its descent through the atmosphere and landing. If the
Rocketdyne. This engine uses liquid hydrogen and liquid landing is not successful, this strategy will provide much
oxygen and can provide up to about 22,300 pounds more information than would be possible with the alter-
(99,200 newtons) of thrust. The Centaur can control its native of relying on transmissions from the Mars Science
orientation precisely, which is important for managing the Laboratory directly to Earth. Landing on Mars is always
direction of thrust while its engine is firing. It carries its difficult, with success uncertain. After an unsuccessful
own flight control computer and can release its payload attempted Mars landing by Mars Polar Lander in 1999
with the desired attitude and spin rate. without definitive information on the cause of the mis-
hap, NASA set a high priority on communication during
The spacecraft will ride into the sky inside a protective subsequent Mars landings.
payload fairing atop the Centaur stage. With the payload
fairing on top, the vehicle ready for launch will stand ap- The selected launch period for the Mars Science
proximately 191 feet (58 meters) tall. Laboratory begins Nov. 25, 2011, and ends Dec. 18,
2011. The durations of the daily launch windows during
The first Atlas V was launched in August 2002. An Atlas this 24-day launch period vary from day to day. On the
V 401 sent NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on its first day in the launch period, the launch window is 103
way to Mars on Aug. 12, 2005, from the same launch minutes long. The windows will shorten to 44 minutes
complex where the Mars Science Laboratory will be by the end of the period. Within each window, regard-
launched. less of length, unique launch opportunities will occur
once every five minutes.
Launch Timing Factors
The first launch opportunity on Nov. 25 is for liftoff at
As Earth and Mars race around the sun, with Earth on 10:25 a.m. EST.
the inside track, Earth laps Mars about once every 26
months. Launch opportunities to Mars occur at the same Launch Sequences
frequency, when the planets are configured so that a
spacecraft launched from Earth will move outward and The launch time, called T Zero, is 1.1 seconds before
intersect with Mars in its orbit several months later. This liftoff. Ignition of the Atlas V 541 first-stage common
planetary clockwork, plus the launch vehicles power, the core booster is at 2.7 seconds before T Zero, or 3.8
spacecrafts mass, and the desired geometry and timing seconds before liftoff.
for the landing on Mars were all factors in determining the
range of possible launch dates. The four solid rocket boosters ignite 3.5 seconds after
ignition of the common core booster (0.3 second before
An additional factor in determining the launch period liftoff). They burn for about a minute and a half, and
for the Mars Science Laboratory was the launch period then their spent casings are jettisoned in pairs several
from Aug. 5 to Aug. 26, 2011, for NASAs Juno mission seconds after burnout.
to Jupiter. The Juno launch on Aug. 5 used an Atlas
V 551 vehicle from the same launch complex as the The common core booster engine of the first stage
Mars Science Laboratory, Launch Complex 41 at Cape continues to burn until about 4 minutes and 20 seconds
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Consideration was after liftoff. During that burn, at about 3 minutes and
given to the minimum time required to process the Mars 25 seconds after liftoff, the payload fairing around the
Science Laboratory launch vehicle for its launch follow- spacecraft is jettisoned. The booster engine finishes
ing Junos departure. This was an important factor in the its work at an event called the booster engine cutoff.
choice of the type of trajectory to Mars and the timing of At that point, these engines have consumed about
the launch period for the Mars Science Laboratory. 623,000 pounds (284,000 kilograms) of propellant in
less than five minutes and, with the help of the solid
rocket boosters, taken the spacecraft to an altitude of

about 98 miles (158 kilometers) down range from Cape ing on launch timing about 20 minutes for a launch
Canaveral about 307 miles (494 kilometers). at the initial Nov. 25 opportunity at the opening of the
launch window.
After coasting for a few seconds following booster
engine cutoff, the launch vehicles second stage Centaur The second Centaur burn, continuing for nearly 8 min-
separates from the first stage, which drops into the utes (for a launch at the opening of the Nov. 25 launch
Atlantic Ocean. About 10 seconds after that separation, window), lofts the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on
the Centaur engine is started for the first of two burns. its way toward Mars. The burn ends with main engine
That burn lasts about 7 minutes and inserts the Centaur- cutoff 2. Three minutes and 43 seconds after that cutoff,
and-spacecraft stack into a parking orbit. The shape pyrotechnic actuators and push-off springs on the
of the parking orbit is an ellipse varying in altitude from second stage of the Atlas release the spacecraft with
102 miles (165 kilometers) to 201 miles (324 kilometers). a separation velocity (relative to the launch vehicle) of
However, the spacecraft will not complete even one 0.6 miles per hour (0.27 meters per second) and a spin
orbit. After completion of the Centaur main engines first rate of about 2.5 rotations per minute. By that point,
burn (main engine cutoff 1), the stack coasts in the park- 43 minutes after liftoff for the first Nov. 25 opportunity at
ing orbit until it reaches the proper position for start of the the opening of the launch window, the two stages of the
second Centaur burn, depending on launch date and Atlas have accelerated the spacecraft to about 22,866
launch time. This coast lasts 14 to 30 minutes, depend- miles per hour (10.22 kilometers per second) relative to
Burn Coast Burn

Duration Duration Duration
0:06:52 0:19:35 0:08:00 Centaur
End of Mission
Centaur Separation t = 1:50:48
t = 0:04:27
Alt = 100 miles
Range = 328 miles
V = 12,608 mph Main Engine Main Engine
Start 1 Start 2 Spacecraft End of Avoidance
t = 0:04:37 t = 0:31:05
Alt = 105 miles Separation Maneuver
Range = 361 miles t = 0:42:48 t = 1:07:38
V = 12,582 mph
Main Engine Main Engine Trajectory
Payload Fairing Jettison
t = 0:03:25 Cutoff 1 Cutoff 2 Interface Point
Alt = 74 miles t = 0:11:30 t = 0:39:05 t = 0:47:48
Range = 158 miles Orbit altitude =
V = 7,599 mph 102 x 201 miles
Solid Rocket Booster Jettison

t = 0:01:52
Alt = 30 miles
Range = 31 miles
V = 3,305 mph
Liftoff
t = 1.1 sec
Profile of Mars Science Laboratory launch events, for a launch at first opportunity: Nov. 25, 2011, at 10:25 a.m. EST

Earth. Shortly after that, the separated Centaur performs The Mars Science Laboratory uses what is called a
its last task, an avoidance maneuver taking itself out Type 1 trajectory to Mars, meaning the spacecraft will
of the spacecrafts flight path to avoid hitting either the fly less than halfway around the sun while in transit
spacecraft or Mars. from one planet to the other.
Throughout the launch sequence, radio transmissions During cruise and approach, the spacecraft is spin-
from the Atlas to NASAs Tracking and Data Relay stabilized at two rotations per minute. The attitude of
Satellite System enable ground controllers to monitor the spacecrafts axis of rotation relative to Earth and the
critical events and the status of the launch vehicle and sun affects telecommunications, power and thermal
the spacecraft. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft performance. The plane of the solar array on the cruise
cannot begin its own direct transmissions until after it stage is perpendicular to that axis, and the two anten-
separates from the launch vehicle and an antenna on nas used during cruise are pointed in line with that axis,
the spacecraft is exposed. One minute after space- in the direction the array faces. The parachute low-gain
craft separation, the flight software transitions the Mars antenna, used during the first two months of the trip
Science Laboratory to cruise phase and turns on the when the angle between the sun and Earth is rela-
X-band transmitter. The spacecraft does not start trans- tively large, works at a wider range of pointing angles
mitting data until five minutes after that, allowing time for than possible with the medium-gain antenna, which is
warming up the amplifier and configuring the telecom- mounted on the cruise stage. As the spacecraft gets
munications system. farther from Earth, the medium-gain antenna is needed
for providing communication capability used for naviga-
The first antenna station of NASAs Deep Space tion, so the spacecrafts attitude must be maintained
Network to receive communication from the spacecraft with pointing closer to Earth. The sun will not be in the
is near Canberra, Australia. Use of an antenna oper- same direction as Earth. To accommodate keeping
ated by the private-sector United Space Network on the the medium-gain antenna pointed within less than 10
Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius provides a bonus degrees away from Earth during the later part of the
opportunity for earlier establishment of communications cruise and approach, the power and thermal sub-
with the spacecraft. systems have been designed to cope with an off-sun
angle greater than the off-Earth angle.
Data received from the spacecraft in the initial acquisi-
tion will provide the first evaluation of the spacecrafts Thrusters on the cruise stage are fired to adjust the
health in cruise mode, including confirmation that the spacecrafts flight path three times during the cruise
cruise-stage solar arrays are producing electricity. Once phase and additional times, as needed, during the
the spacecraft is in a stable state, cruise phase activities approach phase. The first one is planned for 15 days
can begin. after launch; the second for 120 days after launch.
These two are used to remove most of the launch-
Interplanetary Cruise and Approach to Mars day trajectorys intentional offset from Mars, which is a
planetary protection precaution to avoid the possibility
The trip from Earth to Mars will take about 36 weeks of the launch vehicles upper stage reaching Mars with-
(255 days if launch is at the opening of the launch period out having been cleaned to the standards of a Mars-
on Nov. 25, 2011). Most of this period (210 days if landing spacecraft. The spacecraft spends the first
launch is Nov. 25) is the cruise phase of the mission. two weeks of cruise on a trajectory that would miss
The final 45 days are the approach phase. Mars by hundreds of thousands of miles or kilometers.
The first two trajectory correction maneuvers direct the
Key activities during cruise include checkouts of the trajectory closer to Mars, but still leave some off-Mars
spacecraft and its science instruments, tracking of the bias as a precaution against the spacecraft hitting Mars
spacecraft, attitude adjustments for changes in point- in a way that could prevent the missions planetary
ing of the solar array and antennas, and planning and protection precautions from being effective. The third
execution of three scheduled maneuvers to adjust the trajectory correction maneuver, about two months after
spacecrafts trajectory. Three additional trajectory cor- the second and 60 days before landing, is the first one
rection maneuvers are scheduled during the approach to actually target the desired Mars atmospheric entry
phase, plus a final, contingency maneuver opportunity, if point.
needed.

Schematic view of Mars Science Laboratory cruise phase Six trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs) are scheduled
from Earth to Mars during the voyage from Earth to Mars. Arrival at Mars will be
Aug. 6, 2012, Universal Time.
Three additional trajectory maneuvers are scheduled California, Spain and Australia. One method is rang-
during the approach phase, at eight days before landing, which measures the distance to the spacecraft by
ing, two days before landing and nine hours before timing precisely how long it takes for a radio signal to
landing. As a precaution in case of any problem with travel to the spacecraft and back. A second is Doppler,
the trajectory correction maneuver at two days out, the which measures the spacecrafts speed relative to Earth
schedule holds a contingency maneuver at 24 hours by the amount of shift in the pitch of a radio signal from
before landing. the craft. A newer method, called delta differential one-
way range measurement, adds information about the
Trajectory correction maneuvers combine assessments location of the spacecraft in directions perpendicular to
of the spacecrafts trajectory with calculations of how to the line of sight. For this method, pairs of antennas on
use the eight thrusters on the cruise stage to alter the different continents simultaneously receive signals from
trajectory. Navigators assessments of the spacecrafts the spacecraft, and then the same antennas observe
trajectory use three types of tracking information from natural radio waves from a known celestial reference
ground antennas of NASAs Deep Space Network in point, such as a quasar, which serves as a navigation
reference point.

All of the spacecrafts science instruments get health seven minutes later with the rover and descent stage
checks during the cruise phase. One, the Radiation stationary on the surface one about to begin its
Assessment Detector, will be used on a power-available mission and the other with its job completed.
basis to collect information about the radiation environ-
ment near Earth and between Earth and Mars. The top of Mars atmosphere is actually a gradual tran-
sition to interplanetary space, not a sharp boundary.
The final five days of the approach phase include ac- The atmospheric entry interface point the aim point
tivities in preparation for the spacecrafts atmospheric for the flight to Mars is set at 2,188.6 miles (3,522.2
entry, descent and landing. These include preheating of kilometers) from the center of Mars. That altitude is
some components and enabling others. The schedule 81.46 miles (131.1 kilometers) above the ground
includes four opportunities to update parameters for the elevation of the landing site at Gale Crater, though the
autonomous software controlling events during the entry, entry point is not directly above the landing site.
descent and landing.
Ten minutes before the spacecraft enters the atmo-
Entry, Descent and Landing sphere, it sheds the cruise stage. The Mars Science
Laboratory Entry Descent and Landing Instrument
The intense period called the entry, descent and landing (MEDLI) Suite begins taking measurements. The data
(EDL) phase of the mission begins when the spacecraft MEDLI provides about the atmosphere and about the
reaches the Mars atmosphere, traveling at about 13,200 heat shields performance will aid in design of future
miles per hour (5,900 meters per second). It ends about Mars landings.
Sky Crane Detail

Rover Separation
Altitude: ~66 feet (~20 meters)
Cruise Stage Separation Velocity: ~1.7 mph (~0.75 meter/sec)
Time: Entry - 10 min Time: Entry + ~390 sec
Cruise Balance Devices Separation Mobility

Time: Entry - ~8 min Deploy
Touchdown
Entry Interface Altitude: 0
Altitude: ~78 miles (~125 km) Velocity: ~1.7 mph
Velocity: ~13,200 mph (~5,900 meters/sec) (~0.75 meter/sec)
Time: Entry + 0 sec Time: Entry + ~403 sec
Flyaway
Heat Shield
Separation
Peak Heating Altitude: ~5 miles (~8 km)
Velocity: ~280 mph
Peak (~125 meters/sec)
Deceleration Time: Entry + ~279 sec
Back Shell Separation

Altitude: ~1 mile (~1.6 km)
Velocity: ~180 mph
Hypersonic (~80 meters/sec)
Aero-maneuvering Time: Entry + ~350 sec
Parachute Deploy
Altitude: ~7 miles (~11 km)
Velocity: ~900 mph Radar Data
(~405 meters/sec) Collection
Time: Entry + ~255 sec
Powered
Descent
Sky Crane
Flyaway
Profile of entry, descent and landing events, for one typical case. Exact timing will be determined by atmospheric conditions on
landing day.

Beginning a minute later, small thrusters on the back previous Mars mission. The span between the moment
shell halt the two-rotation-per-minute spin that the the spacecraft passes the entry interface point and a
spacecraft had maintained during cruise and approach successful touchdown in the target area of Gale Crater
phases. Nine minutes before entry, the back shell thrust- could be as short as about 369 seconds or as long as
ers orient the spacecraft so the heat shield faces for- about 460 seconds. Times for the opening of the para-
ward, a maneuver called turn to entry. chute could vary by 10 to 20 seconds for a successful
landing. Times given in the following description and on
After the turn to entry, the back shell jettisons two the accompanying graphic are for a typical case, with
solid-tungsten weights, called the cruise balance mass touchdown 403 seconds after entry.
devices. Ejecting these devices, which weigh about 165
pounds (75 kilograms) each, shifts the center of mass of After the spacecraft finishes its guided entry maneuvers,
the spacecraft. During the cruise and approach phases, a few seconds before the parachute is deployed, the
the center of mass is on the axis of the spacecrafts back shell jettisons another set of tungsten weights to
stabilizing spin. Offsetting the center of mass for the shift the center of mass back to the axis of symmetry.
period during which the spacecraft experiences dynamic This set of six weights, the entry balance mass de-
pressure of interaction with the atmosphere gives the vices, each has a mass of about 55 pounds (25 kilo-
Mars Science Laboratory the ability to fly through the grams). Shedding them re-balances the spacecraft for
atmosphere with an angle of attack, generating lift. The the parachute portion of its descent.
mission manipulates that lift, using a technique called
guided entry, to steer out unpredictable variations in the The parachute deploys about 255 seconds after entry,
density of the Mars atmosphere and improve the preci- at an altitude of about 7 miles (11 kilometers) and a
sion of landing on target. velocity of about 900 miles per hour (about 405 meters
per second). After about 24 more seconds, the heat
As the spacecraft interacts with the upper atmosphere, shield separates and drops away when the spacecraft is
small thrusters on the back shell can adjust the angle at an altitude of about 5 miles (about 8 kilometers) and
and direction of tilt, enabling the spacecraft to fly a series a velocity of about 280 miles per hour (125 meters per
of S curves. The S curves reduce the net horizontal dis- second). The Mars Descent Imager begins recording
tance that the spacecraft covers as it descends. Using video of the ground beneath the spacecraft. The rover,
fewer of them prevents undershooting the target area; with its descent-stage rocket backpack, is still at-
using more of them prevents overshooting the target tached to the back shell on the parachute. The terminal
area. The guided entry maneuvers can also correct for descent sensor, a radar system mounted on the descent
net drift to the left or right due to winds. The spacecraft stage, begins collecting data about velocity and altitude.
autonomously controls the guided entry movements in
response to information that its gyroscope-containing The back shell, with parachute attached, separates from
inertial measurement unit provides about deceleration the descent stage and rover about 80 seconds after
and direction, indirect indicators of atmospheric density heat shield separation. At this point, the spacecraft is
and winds. about 0.9 mile (1.4 kilometers) above the ground and
rushing toward it at about 180 miles per hour (about 80
More than nine-tenths of the deceleration before landing meters per second). All eight throttleable retrorockets on
results from friction with the Mars atmosphere before the the descent stage, called Mars landing engines, begin
parachute opens. Peak heating occurs about 80 sec- firing for the powered descent phase.
onds after atmospheric entry, when the temperature at
the external surface of the heat shield will be about 3,800 After the engines have decelerated the descent to
degrees Fahrenheit (about 2,100 degrees Celsius). Peak about 1.7 miles per hour (0.75 meters per second), the
deceleration occurs about 10 seconds later. descent stage maintains that velocity until rover touch-
down. Four of the eight engines shut off just before nylon
The span of time from atmospheric entry until touch- cords begin to spool out to lower the rover from the
down is not predetermined. The exact timing and altitude descent stage in the sky crane maneuver. The rover
for key events depends on unpredictable factors in separates its hard attachment to the descent stage,
atmospheric conditions on landing day. The guided entry though still attached by the sky crane bridle, at an alti-
technique enables the spacecraft to be more respon- tude of about 66 feet (about 20 meters), with about 12
sive to unpredictable atmospheric conditions than any seconds to go before touchdown.

The rovers wheels and suspension system, which need to be included in this downlink, though additional
double as the landing gear, pop into place just before data from the sol can be transmitted during later relay
touchdown. The bridle is fully spooled out as the space- opportunities.
craft continues to descend, so touchdown occurs at the
descent speed of about 1.7 miles per hour (0.75 meters With data from preceding sols, the rover team needs to
per second). When the spacecraft senses touchdown, make decisions for each sol, such as what targets to ap-
the connecting cords are severed and the descent proach, what instruments to use, what observations to
stage flies out of the way, coming to the surface at least make and what downlink priority level to assign for each
492 feet (150 meters) from the rovers position, probably set of data generated during the sol or stored onboard
more than double that distance. from earlier sols. The rover teams engineers collaborate
with scientists to determine what activities are safe and
The rovers computer switches from entry, descent and feasible, and to develop and check the sequences of
landing mode to surface mode. This initiates autono- commands for transmission to the rover.
mous activities for the first Martian day on the surface
of Mars, Sol 0. The time of day at the landing site is mid In initial weeks of Mars surface operations, the team will
afternoon about 3 p.m. local mean solar time at Gale work on a Mars time schedule to make best use of the
Crater. key hours between when one sols downlink is received
and when the next sols commands must be ready,
Mars Surface Operations whatever time of day that is at the operations center
at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The planned operational life for the Mars Science Team members work shift will begin about 40 minutes
Laboratory is one Martian year on the surface. One later each day than on the preceding day because a
Martian year is 687 Earth days, or 669 Martian days, sol is that much longer than an Earth day. Later in the
which are called sols. Each sol is 24 hours, 39 minutes, mission, operations will transition to an Earth-day work
35.244 seconds long. The landing site is in an equato- schedule and will become more geographically distrib-
rial region, at 4.5 degrees south latitude. The season in uted as non-Pasadena team members return to their
Mars southern hemisphere at the beginning and end of home institutions and participate through teleconferenc-
the prime mission is late winter, about two thirds of the ing.
way from winter solstice to spring equinox.
The landing sol is designated as Sol 0, a change from
One Martian year is how long the scientists and en- the practice of the Mars Exploration Rover missions,
gineers operating the rover will have to achieve the which designated landing sols of Spirit and Opportunity
missions science goals. Adding to the challenge, some as Sol 1. On Curiositys Sol 0, the information expected
periods of the mission will not be fully available for sci- from the rover will confirm its status after landing.
ence tasks. These include an initial health checkout for Additional information about rover health and status may
about 10 sols or more after landing and about 20 sols come about 12 hours after landing via relay from the
in April 2013 when communications will be restricted Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passing over the landing
due to Mars position nearly behind the sun from Earth. site at about 3 a.m. local Mars time on Sol 1.
Strategies for maximizing the science accomplishments
in the time available include extensive preparations Priority activities for Sol 1, built into command sequenc-
before landing, efficiently coordinated use of the rovers es stored onboard from before landing, are to raise the
capabilities and flexibility for responding to discoveries. camera mast, image the sky with the navigation camera,
determine the location of the sun from those images,
The structure of science activities is based on sending calculate the angle toward Earth, then point the high-
a set of commands to the rover each Martian morning gain antenna toward Earth.
for the activities to be performed during that sol. The
activity plan for the sol needs to fit within the constraints Activities over the next few sols will characterize the rover
of time, power, temperature factors and data volume for and landing site by conducting health checks of various
the sol. During a communication relay opportunity when rover subsystems, completing a color panorama from
an orbiter passes overhead in the Martian midafternoon, the Mastcam and taking weather measurements. The
the rover transmits data about the sols activities. Any of first drive may be more than a week after landing, and
the sols results that will influence the next sols activities

the first use of the robotic arm will probably be after the Communication during atmospheric entry, descent
first drive. and landing is a high priority. Landings on Mars are
notoriously difficult. If this landing were not successful,
After completion of the characterization activities, the maintaining communications during the entry, descent
pace of driving and the frequency of multi-sol stops for and landing would provide critical diagnostic information
acquiring and analyzing rock or soil samples will be de- that could influence the design of future missions.
termined by the team decisions about science priorities.
Some possible destinations identified in advance from All three orbiters currently active at Mars NASAs
orbit may be within several weeks of driving distance Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and
from the landing site. With the time taken to investigate the European Space Agencys Mars Express will
nearer stopping points, other likely destinations are more be at positions where they can receive transmissions
than a year away. from the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during its
entry, descent and landing. These transmissions to the
Communications Strategy orbiters use the ultra-high frequency (UHF) portion of
the radio spectrum (at about 400 megahertz) from three
Like all of NASAs interplanetary missions, the Mars different UHF antennas. The parachute UHF antenna,
Science Laboratory will rely on the agencys Deep mounted on the back shell, transmits information from
Space Network to communicate with the spacecraft a few minutes before atmospheric entry until the rover
and to track it during flight. The network has groups of and descent stage separate from the back shell. At
antennas at three locations: at Goldstone in Californias that point, the descent UHF antenna on the descent
Mojave Desert; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, stage takes over. When the rover drops away from the
Australia. These locations are about one-third of the way descent stage on its sky-crane bridle, the rover UHF an-
around the world from each other. That assures, whatev- tenna is exposed to begin transmissions that continue
er time of day it is on Earth, at least one of them will have through landing. The orbiters relay to Earth via X band
the spacecraft in view during its trip from Earth through the information they receive from the Mars Science
landing. At least one location will have Mars in view at Laboratory during this critical period.
any time during the rovers Mars-surface operations.
Each complex is equipped with one antenna 230 feet The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will also
(70 meters) in diameter, at least two antennas 112 feet transmit in X band during its entry, descent and land-
(34 meters) in diameter, and smaller antennas. All three ing. Due to signal strength constraints, these transmis-
complexes communicate directly with the control hub at sions will be simple semaphore codes rather than full
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. telemetry. The Deep Space Network will listen for those
direct-to-Earth transmissions. The X-band antenna in
As the spacecraft travels from Earth to Mars during the use at the start of atmospheric entry is the parachute
cruise and approach phases of the mission it commu- low-gain antenna on the back shell. Transmissions are
nicates directly with Earth in the X-band portion of the shifted to the tilted low-gain antenna, also on the back
radio spectrum (at 7 to 8 gigahertz). For this, the space- shell, before the start of the banking maneuvers of the
craft uses a transponder and amplifier in the spacecrafts guided entry. After the separation of the back shell, the
descent stage and two antennas. One of the antennas, descent low-gain antenna, mounted on the descent
the parachute low-gain antenna, is on the aeroshells stage, handles X-band transmission. The rover low-gain
parachute cone, which is exposed through the center of antenna transmits in X band, but not until after landing.
the cruise stage. The other, the medium-gain antenna,
is mounted on the cruise stage. The parachute low-gain During Mars surface operations, the rover Curiosity has
antenna serves during the early weeks of the cruise to multiple options available for receiving commands from
Mars, then again during cruise-stage separation. During mission controllers on Earth and for returning rover sci-
most of the voyage, the job switches to the medium-gain ence and engineering information.
antenna, which provides higher data rates but requires
more restrictive pointing toward Earth. The telecommuni- Curiosity has the capability to communicate directly with
cations system provides position and velocity information Earth via X-band links with the Deep Space Network.
for navigation, as well carrying data and commands. This capability will be used routinely to deliver com-
mands to the rover each morning on Mars. It can also
be used to return information to Earth, but only at

relatively low data rates on the order of kilobits per NASAs primary strategy for preventing contamina-
second due to the rovers limited power and antenna tion of Mars with Earth organisms is to be sure that all
size, and to the long distance between Earth and Mars. hardware going to the planet is biologically clean. The
Mars Science Laboratory mission is allowed to carry up
Curiosity will return most information via UHF re- to 500,000 bacterial spores on the entire flight system.
lay links, using one of its two redundant Electra-Lite Thats about one tenth as many as in a typical teaspoon
radios to communicate with a Mars orbiter passing of seawater. Spore-forming bacteria have been the
overhead. In their trajectories around Mars, the Mars focus of planetary protection standards because these
Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey orbiter bacteria can survive harsh conditions for many years as
each fly over the Curiosity landing site at least once inactive spores. One requirement for this mission is that
each afternoon and once each morning before dawn. the exposed interior and exterior surfaces of the landed
While these contact opportunities are short in duration, system, which includes the rover, parachute and back
typically lasting only about 10 minutes, the proximity of shell, must not carry a total number of bacterial spores
the orbiters allows Curiosity to transmit at much higher greater than 300,000, with the average spore density
data rates than the rover can use for direct-to-Earth not exceeding 300 spores per square meter (about 11
transmissions. The rover can transmit to Odyssey at square feet). This ensures that the biological load is not
up to about 0.25 megabit per second and to the Mars concentrated in one place. The heat shield and descent
Reconnaissance Orbiter at up to about 2 megabits per stage will hit the ground hard enough that hardware
second. The orbiters, with their higher-power transmit- could break open. The number of spores inside this
ters and larger antennas, then take the job of relaying hardware that could be exposed by the hard landings
the information via X-band to the Deep Space Network of these components must be included in the 500,000
on Earth. Mission plans call for the return of 250 mega- maximum number.
bits of Curiosity data per Martian day over these relay
links. The links can also be used for delivering com- The two primary methods used for reducing the number
mands from Earth to Curiosity. of spores on the spacecraft are alcohol wipe clean-
ing and dry heat microbial reduction. Technicians and
While not planned for routine operational use dur- engineers assembling the spacecraft and preparing it for
ing Curiositys surface mission, the European Space launch have routinely cleaned surfaces by wiping them
Agencys Mars Express orbiter will be available as a with alcohol and other solvents. Components tolerant of
backup communications relay asset should NASAs high temperature were heated to reduce spore burden
relay orbiters become unavailable for any period of time. according to NASA specification, at temperatures rang-
ing from 230 to 295 degrees Fahrenheit (110 to 146
Planetary Protection degrees Celsius) for durations up to 144 hours. The
planetary protection team carefully samples the surfaces
When sending missions to Mars, precautions must be and performs microbiological tests to demonstrate that
taken to avoid introduction of microbes from Earth by the spacecraft meets requirements for biological cleanli-
robotic spacecraft. This is consistent with United States ness.
obligations under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the
international treaty stipulating that exploration must be The Mars Science Laboratory is also complying with a
conducted in a manner that avoids harmful contami- requirement to avoid going to any site on Mars known to
nation of celestial bodies. Planetary protection is the have water or water-ice within 3.3 feet (one meter) of the
discipline responsible for the development of rules and surface. This is a precaution against any landing-day ac-
practices used to avoid biological contamination in the cident that could introduce hardware not fully sterilized
process of exploration. NASA has a planetary protec- by dry heat into an environment where heat from the
tion officer responsible for establishing and enforcing missions radioisotope thermoelectric generator and a
planetary protection regulations. Each spacecraft mis- Martian water source could provide conditions favorable
sion is responsible for implementing measures to com- for microbes from Earth to grow on Mars.
ply with the regulations. In compliance with the treaty
and NASA regulations, the Mars Science Laboratory Another way of making sure the mission does not trans-
flight hardware has been designed and built to meet port Earth life to Mars is to ensure that any hardware not
planetary protection requirements. meeting cleanliness standards does not go to Mars ac-

cidentally. When the Atlas launch vehicles upper stage spores trapped inside the hardware during manufactur-
Centaur separates from the spacecraft, the two objects ing processes. To ensure MSL does not exceed the
are traveling on nearly identical trajectories. To prevent spore allocation, studies were conducted on various
the possibility of the Centaur hitting Mars, that shared materials, including paint, propellants and adhesives, to
flight path is deliberately set so that the spacecraft determine the number of spores in a given volume. In
would miss Mars if not for later maneuvers to adjust many cases the parts of the spacecraft containing these
its trajectory. By design, the Centaur is never aimed at materials used dry heat microbial reduction to reduce
Mars. the number of spores. For hardware expected to impact
Mars, such as the cruise stage after its separation from
Portions of the flight hardware will impact the surface of the aeroshell, a detailed thermal analysis was conducted
Mars as part of a normal landing event. This impact may to make sure that plunging through Mars atmosphere
cause the hardware to split open and potentially release creates enough heat that few to no spores survive.

Comparing Two Mars Rover Projects
Mars Science Laboratory Mars Exploration Rovers
Rovers 1 (Curiosity) 2 (Spirit and Opportunity)
Launch vehicle Atlas V Delta II
Heat shield diameter 14.8 feet (4.5 meters) 8.7 feet (2.65 meters)
Design mission life on Mars 1 Mars year (98 weeks) 90 Mars sols (13 weeks)
Science Payload 10 instruments, 165 pounds 5 instruments, 11 pounds

(75 kilograms) (5 kilograms)
Rover mass 1,982 pounds (899 kilograms) 374 pounds (170 kilograms)
Rover size (excluding arm) Length 10 feet (3 meters); Length 5.2 feet (1.6 meters);
width 9 feet (2.7 meters); width 7.5 feet (2.3 meters);
height 7 feet (2.2 meters) height 4.9 feet (1.5 meters)
Robotic arm 7 feet (2.1 meters) long, 2.5 feet (0.8 meter) long,
deploys two instruments, deploys three instruments,
collects powdered samples removes surfaces of rocks,
from rocks, scoops soil, prepares brushes surfaces
and delivers samples for analytic
instruments, brushes surfaces
Entry, descent and landing Guided entry, sky crane Ballistic entry, air bags
Landing ellipse 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) long 50 miles (80 kilometers) long
(99-percent confidence area)
Power supply on Mars Multi-mission radioisotope Solar photovoltaic panels

thermoelectric generator (less than 1,000 watt hours per sol)
(about 2,700 watt hours per sol)
Computer Redundant pair, 200 megahertz, Single, 20 megahertz,

250 MB of RAM, 2 GB of 128 MB of RAM, 256 MB of
flash memory flash memory

Spacecraft
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft consists of two separation events (232 to 260 days, depending on
four major elements: rover, descent stage, aeroshell launch date), the cruise stage performs essential tasks
and cruise stage. The rover, Curiosity, has the science of the flight, though it uses the computer inside the
payload and systems that enable the rover to use the rover.
payload effectively and send home the results. The
descent stage performs the final moments of delivering The cruise stage primary structure is aluminum. An in-
the rover to the surface of Mars. The aeroshell, which ner ring connects to the launch vehicle interface and the
includes the heat shield and the back shell, provides back shell interface plate. A series of ribs connect other
thermal protection and maneuverable lift during the initial components. The cruise propulsion system is used to
portion of descent through the Martian atmosphere, and maintain the spacecrafts spin rate, adjust the space-
then a parachute ride for the next portion of the descent. crafts orientation, and provide propulsion for trajectory
The cruise stage provides trajectory maneuvers, electri- correction maneuvers scheduled into the trip between
cal power, communications and other functions during Earth and Mars. Two clusters of thrusters each include
the eight months from launch to landing. four thruster engines in different orientations enabling
different directions of thrust. Each of the eight thrust-
Cruise Stage ers can provide about 1.1 pounds (5 newtons) of force.
They use hydrazine, a monopropellant that does not re-
The cruise stage is doughnut-shaped, about five times quire an oxygen source. Hydrazine is a corrosive liquid
wider than it is tall, with 10 radiators arranged around compound of nitrogen and hydrogen that decomposes
the perimeter. The hole of the doughnut sits over a cone explosively into expanding gases when exposed to a
holding the parachute on top of the aeroshell. One sur- catalyst in the thrusters. Two spherical propellant tanks
face of the cruise stage attaches to the launch vehicle. on the cruise stage, each 19 inches (48 centimeters)
That attachment is severed within the first hour after in diameter, supply the pressurized propellant. Aerojet
launch. The other surface of the cruise stage attaches built the thrusters at its Redmond, Wash., facility. On
to the top of the aeroshell. That attachment is severed both the cruise stage and descent stage, fuel tanks are
10 minutes before the spacecraft enters Mars atmo- from ATK Space Systems, Inc., Commerce, Calif.; and
sphere. During the roughly eight months between those pressurant tanks are from Arde, Inc., Carlstadt, N.J.
Cruise Stage
Back Shell
Interface Plate
Parachute Support
Structure
Back Shell
Parachute
Descent Stage Entry

Vehicle
Bridle System
Umbilical
Device
Rover
Heat Shield
Mars Science Laboratory flight system, expanded view

The spacecraft spins at two rotations per minute for friction with Mars atmosphere and provides other
stability on its way to Mars. The cruise stage monitors functions.
the spin rate and the spacecrafts attitude (orientation)
with a star scanner and one of two sun sensor assem- The Mars Science Laboratory aeroshell is not only the
blies. Each of the sun sensor assemblies, from Adcole biggest ever built for a planetary mission, but also incor-
Corp., Marlborough, Mass., includes four sun-sensor porates major innovations in attitude control for guided
heads pointing in different directions. Based on star entry and in thermal protection material. Lockheed
tracking and sun sensing information, the cruise stage Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the areoshells heat
uses its thrusters as necessary to maintain the spin rate shield and back shell.
and attitude.
The diameter of the heat shield is 14.8 feet (4.5 meters).
Most of the electrical power for the spacecraft during the For comparison, heat shields of the Apollo capsules
trip from Earth to Mars is provided by sunshine hitting a that returned astronauts to Earth after visits to the moon
ring-shaped array of photovoltaic cells on the upper sur- were just under 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter, and the
face of the cruise stage. The Multi Mission Radioisotope heat shields for the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and
Thermoelectric Generator on the rover supplements Opportunity, were 8.7 feet (2.65 meters).
the electricity provided by the cruise solar array on the
way to Mars. The solar array has six physical panels This aeroshell, unlike any predecessor for an extrater-
totaling 138 square feet (12.8 square meters) of active restrial mission, has a steering capability. This is a key
photovoltaic area. The photovoltaic cells from Emcore to the missions guided entry innovation for added
Corp., Albuquerque, N.M., use layers of three different precision in landing. During a crucial portion of descent
materials to gain electricity from different portions of the through the upper atmosphere of Mars, before the back
solar spectrum. The layers are gallium indium phospho- shell deploys its parachute, the center of mass of the
rus, gallium arsenide and germanium. If operated at full spacecraft will be offset from the axis of symmetry (a
capacity at Earth, the array could produce about 2,500 line through the center of the aeroshell). This offset puts
watts, which would exceed the spacecrafts needs. the aeroshell at an angle to its direction of movement,
The array and its operation are designed to satisfy the creating lift as the spacecraft interacts with the atmo-
missions requirements from launch day to the Mars ap- sphere. With lift, the spacecraft can fly like a wing, rather
proach. At its farthest from the sun, during the approach than dropping like a rock. A reaction control system with
to Mars, the array will produce 1,080 watts or more, small thrusters to adjust the orientation of the spacecraft
even when facing as much as 43 degrees away from can steer banking turns. A series of turns can shorten
the sun. the net horizontal distance the spacecraft covers during
its descent. Performed in response to sensing how the
Another important function for the cruise stage is to spacecraft is reacting to unpredictable variability in the
maintain temperatures within designed ranges for the atmosphere, the maneuvers counteract the unpredict-
parts of the spacecraft inside the aeroshell as well as ability and provide a more precise landing.
for the cruise stage itself. The 10 radiators of the heat-
rejection system are mounted as a ring around the The heat shield uses a different thermal protection
outer edge of the cruise stage. Fluid pumped through a system than used on earlier Mars missions heat
circulatory system disperses heat from the rovers multi- shields, because the unique entry trajectory profile and
mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator to warm the mass and size of the vehicle could create external
the electronics of the cruise stage and to be released temperatures up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit (about
into space by the radiators. 2,100 degrees Celsius). The heat shield is covered with
tiles of phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA)
The medium-gain antenna mounted on the cruise stage material. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field,
serves in telecommunications with Earth during most of Calif., invented the PICA material; Fiber Materials Inc.,
the trip from Earth to Mars. Biddeford, Maine, made the tiles. PICA was first flown
as the thermal protection system on the heat shield of
Aeroshell NASAs Stardust Sample Return Capsule.
The aeroshell that encapsulates the rover and descent The heat shield carries sensors for collecting data about
stage during the flight to Mars protects them from Mars atmosphere and the performance of the heat

shield. These are part of the Mars Science Laboratory were built by Aerojet, in Richmond, Wash., with throttle
Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) Suite, valve assemblies from Moog Inc., East Aurora, N.Y. Each
which is described in the Mars Science Laboratory can provide an adjustable amount of thrust up to about
Investigations section of this document. 742 pounds (3,300 newtons). The propulsion system
of the descent stage uses pressurized propellant. Three
The back shell, besides making up the upper portion of spherical fuel tanks provide a usable propellant load of
the capsule protecting the rover during passage through about 853 pounds (about 387 kilograms) of hydrazine,
Mars atmosphere, includes several devices used during a propellant that does not require an oxygen source.
the spacecrafts atmospheric entry and descent. Two spherical tanks of pressurized helium provide pres-
sure for propellant delivery, moderated by a mechanical
The back shell carries two sets of detachable tungsten regulator.
weights for altering the spacecrafts center of mass.
While the rover is fastened to the descent stage, the two
Eight small thrusters in the upper half of the back shell components together are called the powered descent
are used for the guided entry maneuvers. vehicle. The fastenings are pyrotechnic bolts. Firing to
release these connections commences the spacecrafts
A conical structure at the top of the back shell holds sky crane maneuver.
the parachute and its deployment mechanism. The
parachute is the largest ever built for an extraterrestrial To perform the sky crane maneuver of lowering the
mission. It uses a configuration called disk-gap-band. It rover on a bridle, the descent stage carries a device
has 80 suspension lines, measures 165 feet (50 meters) called the bridle umbilical and descent rate limiter (BUD).
in length, and opens to a diameter of 51 feet (nearly 16 This cone-shaped device is about 2 feet (two-thirds of
meters). Most of the orange and white fabric is nylon, a meter) long. Three tethers of the bridle, attached to
though a small disk of heavier polyester is used near the the rover at three points, are spooled around the BUD,
vent in the apex of the canopy due to higher stresses with enough length to lower the rover about 25 feet (7.5
there. The parachute is designed to survive deployment meters) below the descent stage during the sky crane
at up to Mach 2.2 in the Martian atmosphere and drag maneuver. A slightly longer umbilical, with data and
forces of up to 65,000 pounds. Pioneer Aerospace power connections between the rover and the descent
Corp., South Windsor, Conn., made the parachute. stage, is also spooled around the BUD. A descent brake
in the device governs the rotation rate as the bridle un-
Mounted on the back shell are two antennas the spools, hence the speed at which gravity pulls the rover
parachute low-gain antenna and the tilted low-gain away from the descent stage. The descent brake, made
antenna for communicating directly with Earth using by the Starsys division of SpaceDev Inc. (now Sierra
X-band frequencies and another antenna the para- Nevada Corp.), Poway, Calif., uses gear boxes and
chute UHF antenna for communicating with Mars banks of mechanical resistors engineered to prevent the
orbiters using an ultra-high frequency (UHF) band. bridle from spooling out too quickly or too slowly. The
cords of the bridle are made of nylon. The BUD also in-
Descent Stage cludes springs for quickly retracting the loose bridle and
umbilical after they are severed at the rover end when
The descent stage of the Mars Science Laboratory does touchdown is detected.
its main work during the final few minutes before touch-
down on Mars. It provides rocket-powered deceleration Through the umbilical, the spacecrafts main computer
and two bands of telecommunications for a phase of the inside the rover controls activities during the entry,
arrival at Mars after the phases using the heat shield and descent and landing. After the heat shield drops away,
parachute. After reaching a constant vertical velocity, the crucial information for determining the timing of events
descent stage lowers the rover on a bridle and continues comes to that computer from the terminal descent
descent until rover touchdown. sensor, a radar system engineered and built specifically
for this mission. The radar, mounted on the descent
The descent stage uses eight rockets, called Mars land- stage, has six disk-shaped antennas oriented at different
er engines (MLE), positioned around its perimeter in four angles. It measures both vertical and horizontal velocity,
pairs. These are the first throttleable engines for a Mars as well as altitude.
landing since the Mars Viking landings in 1976. They

The descent stage carries an X-band transponder and Rover Mobility
amplifier and two telecommunication antennas: the de-
scent low-gain antenna for communicating directly with Curiositys mobility subsystem is a scaled-up version
Earth via X-band transmissions and the descent UHF of what was used on the three earlier Mars rovers:
antenna for sending information to Mars orbiters. Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity. Six wheels all have
driver motors. The four corner wheels all have steering
Rover motors. Each front and rear wheel can be independently
steered, allowing the vehicle to turn in place as well as to
The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, carries the drive in arcs. The suspension is a rocker-bogie system.
instruments of the missions 10 science investigations Combined with a differential connecting the left and right
plus multiple systems that enable the science payload sides of the mobility system, the rocker-bogie design en-
to do its job and send home the results. Key systems ables a six-wheel vehicle to keep all its wheels in contact
include six-wheeled mobility, sample acquisition and with the ground even on uneven terrain, such as with a
handling with a robotic arm, navigation using stereo im- wheel going over a rock as big as the wheel. On each
aging, a radioisotope power source, avionics, software, side, a bogie connects the middle and rear wheels and
telecommunications and thermal control. provides a pivot point between those wheels. The rocker
connects the bogie pivot point to the front wheel. The
The rovers name was suggested by the winning en- rockers pivot point connects to the differential across the
trant in a national naming contest conducted among rover body to the rocker on the other side.
U.S. school students. More than 9,000 students,
ages 5 through 18, submitted entries in late 2008 and Curiositys wheels are aluminum, 20 inches (0.5 meter)
early 2009. An essay by Clara Ma of Lenexa, Kans., a in diameter, which is twice the size of the wheels on
12-year-old sixth-grader at the time, was selected by Spirit and Opportunity. They have cleats for traction
NASA in May 2009. and for structural support. Curving titanium spokes
give springy support. The wheels were machined by
Curiosity is 10 feet (3 meters) long (not counting its arm), Tapemation, Scotts Valley, Calif. Titanium tubing for
9 feet (2.7 meters) wide and 7 feet (2.2 meters) high at the suspension system came from Litespeed Titanium,
the top of its mast, with a mass of 1,982 pounds (899 Chattanooga, Tenn.
kilograms), including 165 pounds (75 kilograms) of sci-
ence instruments. By comparison, each of the previous The drive actuators each combining an electric mo-
generation of Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, is tor and gearbox are geared for torque, not speed.
5.2 feet (1.6 meters) long, 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide and Aeroflex Inc., Plainview, N.Y., built the cold-tolerant actua-
4.9 feet (1.5 meters) high, with a mass of 374 pounds tors for the wheels and other moving parts of Curiosity.
(170 kilograms), including about 20 pounds (9 kilograms) The rover has a top speed on flat, hard ground of about
of science instruments. 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) per second. However, under
autonomous control with hazard avoidance, the vehicle
The science payload is described in the Mars Science achieves an average speed of less than half that. The
Laboratory Science Investigations section of this press rover was designed and built to be capable of driving
kit. more than 12 miles (more than 20 kilometers) during the
prime mission. The actual odometry will depend on deci-
Curiositys mechanical structure provides the basis for sions the science team makes about allocating time for
integrating all of the other rover subsystems and pay- driving and time for investigating sites along the way.
load instruments. The chassis is the core of the rover.
With insulated surfaces, it forms the shell of the warm For Curiosity, unlike earlier Mars rovers, the mobility
electronics box containing the avionics. The mechani- system doubles as a landing system, directly absorbing
cal subsystem provides deployments that bring the the force of impacting the Martian surface at touchdown.
rover to its full functionality, including deployments of the As on the earlier rovers, the mobility system can also be
remote-sensing mast, robotic arm, antennas and mobil- used for digging beneath the surface by rotating one cor-
ity system. ner wheel while keeping the other five wheels immobile.

ChemCam RUHF Antenna
MMRTG
Mastcam
RLGA
Antenna
REMS
High Gain
Antenna
DAN
RAD
MARDI
Turret
Robotic Arm
(CheMin, SAM inside the rover) Mobility System
Curiosity Mars Rover
Locations of several science instruments and major subsys- tenna; Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN); mobility system
tems on the NASA Mars rover Curiosity are indicated. These (wheels and suspension); Radiation Assessment Detector
include (clockwise from left): Rover Environmental Monitoring (RAD); Mars Descent Imager (MARDI); turret (see larger
Station (REMS); Mast Camera (Mastcam); Chemistry and image for tools on the turret at the end of the robotic arm);
Camera (ChemCam); Rover ultra high-frequency (RUHF) and robotic arm. Two science instruments Chemistry and
antenna; Multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator Mineralogy (CheMin) and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)
(MMRTG); Rover low-gain (RLGA) antenna; high-gain an- are inside the body of the rover.
Rover Arm and Turret rover body. The diameter of the turret, including the
tools mounted on it, is nearly 2 feet (60 centimeters).
The turret at the end of the Curiositys robotic arm holds
two science instruments and three other devices. The The arm has five degrees of freedom of movement
arm places and holds turret-mounted tools on rock and provided by rotary actuators known as the shoulder
soil targets and manipulates the sample-processing azimuth joint, shoulder elevation joint, elbow joint,
mechanisms on the turret. It is strong enough to hold wrist joint and turret joint. The Space Division of MDA
the 73-pound (33-kilogram) turret at full extension of the Information Systems Inc. built the arm in Pasadena,
arm. With the arm extended straight forward, the center Calif.
of the turret is 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) from the front of the

APXS
Drill CHIMRA
MAHLI
DRT
Turret of tools at the end of Curiositys robotic arm
Locations of tools on the turret that is mounted on Curiositys Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA),
arm are indicated. These include (clockwise from upper which includes a scoop for acquiring soil samples; the Dust
left): the drill for acquiring powdered samples from interiors Removal Tool (DRT) for brushing rock surfaces clean; and the
of rocks; the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS); Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).
the sample processing subsystem named Collection and
The science instruments on the arms turret are the drilled hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters). The drill pen-
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and the Alpha Particle etrates the rock and powders the sample to the appro-
X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). The other tools on the tur- priate grain size for use in the two analytical instruments
ret are components of the rovers Sample Acquisition/ inside the rover: Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), and
Sample Processing and Handling (SA/SPaH) sub- Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin). The powder travels
system: the Powder Acquisition Drill System (PADS), up an auger in the drill for transfer to sample process-
the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), and the Collection and ing mechanisms. If the drill bit becomes stuck in a rock,
Handling for In-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) the drill can disengage from that bit and replace it with
device. a spare. The arm moves the drill to engage and capture
one of two spare bits in bit boxes mounted to the front
The Powder Acquisition Drill System is a rotary percus- of the rover.
sive drill to acquire samples of rock material for analysis.
It can collect a sample from up to 2 inches (5 centi- The Dust Removal Tool, from Honeybee Robotics, N.Y.,
meters) beneath a rocks surface. The diameter of the is a metal-bristle brushing device used to remove the

dust layer from a rock surface or to clean the rovers of space. In addition, it is a more flexible modular design
observation tray. capable of meeting the needs of a wider variety of mis-
sions as it generates electrical power in smaller incre-
One portion of the Collection and Handling for In-situ ments, slightly over 110 watts. The design goals for the
Rock Analysis device is a motorized, clamshell-shaped multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator
scoop to collect soil samples from the Martian surface. include ensuring a high degree of safety, optimizing
The other turret-mounted portion of this device has power levels over a minimum lifetime of 14 years, and
chambers and labyrinths used for sorting, sieving and minimizing weight. It is about 25 inches (64 centime-
portioning the samples collected by the drill and the ters) in diameter by 26 inches (66 centimeters) long and
scoop. These functions are carried out by manipulating weighs about 99 pounds (45 kilograms).
the orientation of the turret while a vibration device helps
move material through the chambers, passages and Like previous generations of this type of generator, the
sieves. Samples can be sieved to screen out particles multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator is
more than 0.04 inch (1 millimeter) across or to screen built with several layers of protective material designed
out particles more than 0.006 inch (150 microns) across. to contain its plutonium dioxide fuel in a wide range of
The vibration device also aids in creating the appropri- potential accidents, verified through impact testing. In
ate portion size and in the delivery action when the the unlikely event of a launch accident, it is unlikely that
device drops material into inlet ports of the analytical any plutonium would be released or that anyone would
instruments. Each of the inlet ports two for Sample be exposed to nuclear material. The type of plutonium
Analysis at Mars and one for Chemistry and Mineralogy used in a radioisotope power system is different from
has a cover that can be opened and closed using a the material used in weapons and cannot explode
motor. like a bomb. It is manufactured in a ceramic form that
does not become a significant health hazard unless it
An observation tray on the rover allows the Mars Hand becomes broken into very fine pieces or vaporized and
Lens Imager and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer then inhaled or swallowed. Those people who might be
a place to examine collected and processed samples of exposed in a Mars Science Laboratory launch accident
soil and powdered rock. would receive an average dose of 5 to 10 millirem,
equal to about a week of background radiation. The av-
Rover Power erage American receives 360 millirem of radiation each
year from natural sources, such as radon and cosmic
Rover power is provided by a multi-mission radioisotope rays.
thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) supplied by the U.S.
Department of Energy. This generator is essentially a The electrical output from the multi-mission radioiso-
nuclear battery that reliably converts heat into electric- tope thermoelectric generator charges two lithium ion
ity. It consists of two major elements: a heat source that rechargeable batteries. This enables the power subsys-
contains plutonium-238 dioxide and a set of solid-state tem to meet peak power demands of rover activities
thermocouples that convert the plutoniums heat energy when the demand temporarily exceeds the generators
to electricity. It contains 10.6 pounds (4.8 kilograms) of steady output level. The batteries, each with a capac-
plutonium dioxide as the source of the steady supply ity of about 42 amp-hours, were made by Yardney
of heat used to produce the onboard electricity and to Technical Products, Pawcatuck, Conn. They are ex-
warm the rovers systems during the frigid Martian night. pected to go through multiple charge-discharge cycles
per Martian day.
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators have enabled
NASA to explore the solar system for many years. The Rover Telecommunication
Apollo missions to the moon, the Viking missions to
Mars, and the Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini Curiosity has three antennas for telecommunication.
and New Horizons missions to the outer solar system all Two are for communications directly with NASAs Deep
used radioisotope thermoelectric generators. The multi- Space Network antennas on Earth using a radio fre-
mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator is a new quency in the X band (7 to 8 gigahertz). The third is for
generation designed to operate on planetary bodies with communications with Mars orbiters, using the ultra-high
an atmosphere, such as Mars, as well as in the vacuum frequency (UHF) band (about 400 megahertz).

X-band communications use a 15-watt, solid state tive also serves as the main computer for the rest of
power amplifier fed by the rovers small deep space the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during the flight
transponder, manufactured by General Dynamics from Earth and arrival at Mars.
Advanced Information Systems, Scottsdale, Ariz. Spain
provided the rovers high gain antenna, which is hex- Each rover compute element contains a radiation-hard-
agonally shaped, nearly 1 foot (0.3 meter) in diameter ened central processor with PowerPC 750 architecture:
and mounted near the left edge of the rover deck. With a BAE RAD 750. This processor operates at up to 200
this antenna, the X-band subsystem is designed to megahertz speed, compared with 20 megahertz speed
transmit at 160 bits per second or faster to the Deep of the single RAD6000 central processor in each of the
Space Networks 112-foot-diameter (34-meter-diame- Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Each of Curiositys
ter) antennas or at 800 bits per second or faster to the redundant computers has 2 gigabytes of flash memory
Deep Space Networks 230-foot-diameter (70-meter- (about eight times as much as Spirit or Opportunity),
diameter) antennas. The high gain antenna, which 256 megabytes of dynamic random access memory
requires pointing, can be used for either transmitting or and 256 kilobytes of electrically erasable programmable
receiving. The rover low-gain antenna, which does not read-only memory.
require pointing, is designed primarily for receiving com-
munications from the Deep Space Network. X-band The Mars Science Laboratory flight software monitors
reception through the high-gain antenna is anticipated the status and health of the spacecraft during all phases
as the typical method for daily uplink of commands to of the mission, checks for the presence of commands
the rover. to execute, performs communication functions and
controls spacecraft activities.
The rover UHF antenna, a helix-pattern cylinder mount-
ed high near the right-rear corner of Curiosity is fed by Rover Navigation
a pair of redundant Electra-Lite radios, which were built
through a partnership between NASAs Jet Propulsion Two sets of engineering cameras on the rover
Laboratory and L-3 Cincinnati Electronics, Mason, Navigation cameras (Navcams) up high and Hazard-
Ohio. These radios are software-defined, enabling them avoidance cameras (Hazcams) down low will inform
to autonomously adjust their data rate to suit variations operational decisions both by Curiositys onboard
in signal strength due to angles and transmission dis- autonomy software and by the rover team on Earth.
tance. They use standardized communication protocols Information from these cameras is used for autonomous
for interoperability with all the relay orbiters at Mars, and navigation, engineers calculations for maneuvering the
are especially compatible with the adaptive Electra UHF robotic arm and scientists decisions about pointing the
radio on NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The pri- remote-sensing science instruments.
mary method for the rovers transmission of data is an-
ticipated to be UHF relay to the Mars Reconnaissance Curiositys Navcams and Hazcams generate grayscale
Orbiter or Mars Odyssey orbiter during two of the op- images that cover red wavelengths centered at about
portunities each Martian day when the orbiters pass in 650 nanometers. The cameras themselves are virtu-
the sky above the rover. The European Space Agencys ally identical to the engineering cameras on Spirit and
Mars Express orbiter also has the capability to serve as Opportunity, though Curiosity has redundant cameras
a backup relay. and slightly more powerful heaters for the cameras.
Curiosity has a total of 12 engineering cameras, each
Rover Computing weighing about 9 ounces (250 grams).
Curiosity has redundant main computers, or rover Curiositys Navcams, paired for stereo imaging, are
compute elements. Of this A and B pair, it uses one installed next to the science payloads Mast Camera on
at a time, with the spare held in cold backup. Thus, at a the remote-sensing mast. Curiosity carries two stereo
given time, the rover is operating from either its A side pairs of navigation cameras, one pair each connected
or its B side. Most rover devices can be controlled by to the rovers two redundant computers. The navigation
either side; a few components, such as the navigation cameras that are controlled by and feed imagery to the
camera, have side-specific redundancy themselves. A computer are mounted directly above the naviga-
The computer inside the rover whichever side is action cameras linked to the B computer. That puts the

A pair about 6.5 feet (1.99 meters) above the ground centimeters) above ground level. The rear stereo pairs
when the rover is on hard, flat terrain and the cameras each have a baseline of 3.9 inches (10 centimeters), the
are pointed straight out (slightly lower when pointed same as for both the front and rear hazard-identification
downward), and the other pair 2 inches (5 centimeters) cameras on Spirit and Opportunity. The rear A pair
lower. The left and right navigation cameras in each pair on Curiosity is toward the port side of the rear face of
are about 16.5 inches (42 centimeters) apart, giving the vehicle (on the left if a viewer were standing behind
them approximately twice as long a stereo baseline as the rover and looking toward it). The rear B pair is on
the separation distance of navigation cameras on Spirit the right, or toward starboard. Both pairs are about 31
and Opportunity. inches (78 centimeters) above ground level.
Each of the Navcams captures a square field of view 45 The hazard-avoidance cameras have one-time-re-
degrees wide and tall, comparable to the field of view movable lens covers to shield them from potential dust
of a 37-millimeter-focal-length lens on a 35-millimeter, raised during the rovers landing. Pyrotechnic devices
single lens reflex camera. The lens focuses the image will remove the lens caps after landing. The navigation
onto a 1,024-pixel-by-1,024-pixel area of a charge- cameras gain protection from the stowed position of the
coupled device (CCD) detector. This yields a resolution remote-sensing mast during the landing; they do not
of 0.82 milliradians per pixel for example, 0.8 inch (2 have lens covers.
centimeters) per pixel at a distance of 82 feet (25 me-
ters), enough to resolve a golf ball at that distance as a Different navigation modes for rover drives use im-
circle about two Navcam pixels wide. The depth of field ages from the engineering cameras in different ways.
achieved by the fixed-aperture f/12 Navcams keeps Techniques include blind driving, hazard avoidance
anything in focus from a distance of about 20 inches and visual odometry. The set of commands developed
(0.5 meter) to infinity. by rover planners for a single days drive may include a
combination of these modes.
Curiosity has four pairs of Hazcams: two redundant
pairs on the front of the chassis and two redundant When using the blind-drive mode, rover planners have
pairs on the rear. The rover can drive backwards as sufficient local imaging from the engineering cameras or
well as forward, so both the front and rear Hazcams Mast Camera to determine that a safe path exists, free
can be used for detecting potential obstacles in the of obstacles or hazards. They command the rover to
rovers driving direction. The front Hazcams also provide drive a certain distance in a certain direction. In a blind
three-dimensional information for planning motions of drive, the rovers computer calculates distance solely
the rovers robotic arm, such as positioning of the drill or from wheel rotation; one full turn of a wheel with no slip-
scoop for collecting samples. page is nearly 25 inches (63 centimeters) of driving. It
does not check imagery from the engineering cameras
Each Hazcam has a fisheye lens providing a square to assess the slippage.
field of view 124 degrees wide and tall. The depth of
field in focus spans from about 4 inches (10 centime- When the rover planners cannot determine that a path is
ters) to infinity. Resolution of the Hazcams is 2.1 mil- free of obstacles, they can command driving that uses
liradians per pixel on the same type of detector as in hazard avoidance. Besides using this hazard avoidance
the Navcams. At a distance of 33 feet (10 meters), the in rougher terrain, they might use it for an additional seg-
Hazcam resolution is 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) per pixel. ment of driving beyond a blind drive on the same day.
A golf ball at that distance would be approximately two Hazard avoidance requires the rover to stop frequently
Hazcam pixels across. to acquire new stereo imaging in the drive direction with
the engineering cameras and analyze the images for
The redundant pairs of Hazcams are mounted side potential hazards. The rover makes decisions based on
by side. On the front, each stereo pair has a baseline its analysis of the three-dimensional information provided
of 6.54 inches (16.6 centimeters) between the center by the stereo imaging. Rover planners set variables such
of its left eye and center of its right eye. Both the pair as how frequently to stop and check, which cameras
linked to the rovers A computer and the pair linked to to use, and what type of decision the rover makes in
the B computer are mounted near the bottom center response to a hazard detection (whether to choose a
of the front face of the chassis, about 27 inches (68 path around it or stop driving for the day).

Hazard avoidance can be supplemented with visual Curiosity can incorporate other safety features in each
odometry. Visual odometry uses navigation camera drive, such as tilt limits. The rovers inertial measure-
images made with the cameras pointed to the side of ment unit, which incorporates gyroscopes, provides
the route being driven. By pausing at intervals during information about changes in tilt. This and other infor-
the drive to take these images, the rover can compare mation about the rovers attitude, or orientation, serve
the before-and-after situation for each segment of in use of the arm and the science instruments, and in
the drive. It can recognize features in the images and pointing the high-gain antenna, as well as in navigation.
calculate how far it has actually traveled during the
intervening drive segment. Any difference between that Rover Thermal
distance and the distance indicated from wheel rota-
tion is an indication that the wheels are slipping against Curiositys thermal control system was designed to
the ground. In the days set of driving commands, rover enable the rover to operate far from the equator so that
planners can set the intervals at which the rover pauses the mission would have a choice of landing sites based
for visual-odometry checks, as suited to the type of on science criteria. In a range of Mars surface tempera-
terrain being traversed. A slip limit can be set so that if tures from minus 207 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 133
the rover calculates that it is slipping in excess of that degrees Celsius) to 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees
amount, it will stop driving for the day. The mode of us- Celsius), the temperature-sensitive components inside
ing visual odometry checks at intervals several times the the rover can be maintained between minus 40 de-
rovers own length is called slip-check, to differentiate grees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius) and 122
it from full-time visual odometry with sideways-looking degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius).
stops as frequently as a fraction of the rovers length.
The rovers heat rejection system has a pumped-
Navigation modes differ significantly in the fraction of fluid loop that can deliver heat from the multi-mission
time spent with wheels in motion versus stopped for radioisotope thermoelectric generator when the core
imaging and analysis of the images. electronics need heating and take heat away from the
core if the rover is becoming too warm. Pacific Design
Technologies Inc., Goleta, Calif., built the pump.
Rover size, compared with a 5-foot, 8-inch man

The fluid loop runs through an avionics mounting plate Send Your Name to Mars Chips
inside the insulated warm electronics box of the rover
chassis. The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric Silicon chips mounted onto Curiositys deck bear the
generator cools passively with its radiator fins when its names of people who participated in the Send Your
heat is not needed for warming the rover. For heat- Name to Mars program online. Each chip is about
ing needs beyond the circulation of the heat rejection the size of a dime. More than 1.24 million names were
system, the rover uses electrical heaters. These enable submitted online. These names have been etched
flexibility in localizing and timing for the heat they pro- into silicon using an electron-beam machine used for
vide. For example, a secondary warm electronics box fabricating microdevices at NASAs Jet Propulsion
atop the remote sensing mast uses electrical heating Laboratory. In addition, more than 20,000 visitors to
to maintain temperatures there above allowable mini- JPL and NASAs Kennedy Space Center wrote their
mums. names on pages that have been scanned and repro-
duced at microscopic scale on another chip.

Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will place the ing water, some of it would have pooled inside Gale.
rover Curiosity at the foot of a mountain of sedimentary Observations from orbit that add evidence of a wet
strata, or layers, inside Gale Crater. The landing site at history include water-related clay and sulfate minerals
4.5 degrees south latitude, 137.4 degrees east longi- in the lower layers of the mound, and textures higher
tude will give the rover access to a field site with science on the mound where it appears that mineral-saturated
targets both on the crater floor beside the mountain and groundwater filled fractures and deposited minerals.
in the lower layers of the mountain.
Stratification in the mound suggests it is the surviving
Gale Crater spans 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter, remnant of an extensive sequence of deposits that
giving it an area about the equivalent of Connecticut and were laid down after the impact that excavated the
Rhode Island combined. It holds a mound or mountain crater more than 3 billion years ago. A geological layer,
rising about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor, called a stratum, is formed after the layer beneath it
which is higher than Mt. Rainier rises above Seattle. The and before the one above it. The stack of layers that
slopes of the mountain are gentle enough for Curiosity forms the mountain inside Gale offers a history book of
to climb, though during the prime mission of one Martian sequential chapters recording environmental conditions
year (98 weeks), the rover will probably not go beyond when each stratum was deposited. This is the same
some particularly intriguing layers near the base. principal of geology that makes the strata exposed in
Arizonas Grand Canyon a record of environmental his-
Gale sits at a low elevation relative to most of the surface tory on Earth. For more than 150 years, geologists on
of Mars, suggesting that if Mars ever had much flow-
Locations of landing sites for Curiosity and previous Mars rovers and landers

Earth have used stacks of strata from globally dispersed drive far enough to get outside of its landing ellipse dur-
locations to piece together a record of Earth history. ing its prime mission.
In Gale, the stack of layers is much taller than the stack The slopes of the mountain inside Gale Crater are too
admired in the Grand Canyon. It is a closer match to the steep for the rover to land safely on the mountain. The
amount of layering exposed in Mars Valles Marineris, science targets initially identified for the rover to inves-
the largest canyon in our solar system. Therefore, the tigate are in the lower layers of the mountain, requiring
Gale mound may offer one of the thickest continuous the rover to drive outside the landing ellipse to get to the
sequences of strata in the solar system. On Earth, the science targets. Subsequent observations and analysis
thickest sequences of strata that also contain a diversity have identified additional science targets within the land-
of materials are the best records of Earths history. Like ing ellipse. The pace at which Curiosity gets to the fea-
the most complete copy of an ancient manuscript, they tures of high science interest inside and outside of the
can be used to decode and tie together less complete ellipse will depend on findings and decisions made after
records from around the globe. It is hoped that the re- landing, including the possibility of identifying targets not
cord at Gale will be just such a key reference for deci- yet known.
phering Mars global history.
In Curiositys field site encompassing accessible ar-
Gale Crater was named in 1991 for Australian astrono- eas inside and outside of the landing ellipse features
mer Walter F. Gale (1865-1945). The mound inside that make Gale appealing to the science team include:
Gale, when viewed from orbit, resembles the shape of
Australia. An alluvial fan extending into the landing ellipse from
the crater wall to the north holds material shed from
NASAs choice of the landing site in Gale Crater in July the crater wall and likely carried by water.
2011 followed a five-year process that considered about
60 sites and involved about 150 Mars scientists in a Down slope, southward, from the alluvial fan lies
series of public workshops. Four finalist sites identified in an exposure of hard, light-toned rock. The min-
2008 were mapped and examined so extensively from eral composition of this area is unidentified so far.
orbit that they have become four of the best-studied Curiosity could investigate a hypothesis that this
places on Mars. The detail in images taken by the High exposure is sedimentary rock formed in interaction
Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on with water, such as salts left by the drying of a lake.
NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, for example, Some relatively fresh, small craters in this part of the
reveals virtually every individual boulder big enough crater floor may provide access to material that has
to spoil a landing. Mineral mapping by the Compact not experienced long exposure to the radiation envi-
Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer on the same ronment affecting chemistry at the Martian surface.
orbiter and the OMEGA spectrometer on the European
Space Agencys Mars Express identified mineral evi- Among the exposures in the lower portion of Gales
dence of wet histories at all four sites. All four finalist sites inner mountain are packages of strata that contain
qualified as safe for landing, so the selection could be clay minerals, strata that contain sulfate salts and
made based on the sites scientific appeal. strata that contain both. Clays and sulfates both
result from wet environments. The differences in
The guided entry technology enabling the Mars Science mineral composition from one package of strata
Laboratory to land more precisely than previous Mars to the next can provide information about changes
missions, coupled with Curiositys driving capability, in environments that may have been favorable for
meant that, for the first time, the main science destina- microbial life.
tion for a Mars mission could be outside of the area
that needed to qualify as safe for landing. The missions Curiositys analysis of the exposed minerals will
technologies for atmospheric entry, descent and land- provide confirmation of orbiter-based predictions for
ing give the spacecraft about a 99 percent probability the distribution and abundance of similar minerals
of landing within an ellipse 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) by to be present over vast parts of Mars. In this regard,
15.5 miles (25 kilometers). That is about one-third the Curiosity will provide important ground truth of hy-
size of the landing ellipses for Mars rovers that landed potheses generated by previous missions.
in 2004. Curiosity was designed and built to be able to

Oblique view of Curiositys landing area and surrounding terrain at Gale Crater, looking toward the southeast
The sulfate salts retain trace amounts of water in One important capability of Curiositys science payload
their mineral structure. Curiosity can monitor how is to check for the presence of ingredients for life, includ-
some of that water is released into the atmosphere ing the carbon-based building blocks of biology called
during warmer hours of the day and reabsorbed by organic compounds. Long-term preservation of organic
the salts during colder hours. These measurements compounds requires special conditions.
would provide information about the modern water
cycle on Mars. Clays and sulfate-rich deposits such as the ones Curiosity
will investigate in Gale Crater can be good at latching
Canyons cut into the northern flank of the mountain onto organic chemicals and protecting them from oxida-
resulted from flow of water long after the lower lay- tion. Another factor in long-term preservation of organics
ers of the mountain had accumulated. The canyon- on Mars is protection from natural radiation that is more
cutting environment could have been a separate intense than what reaches Earths surface. Radiation may
habitable environment from the environment at gradually destroy organics inside rocks at the surface, but
the time the clay-containing and sulfate-containing Gale also offers rocks exposed by relatively recent small-
layers formed. Analysis of material deposited at the crater impacts.
mouths of the canyons could provide information
about that later environment. Gale offers these attractive targets at which to check for
organic compounds. Finding organics is still a long shot,
Extensive networks of fractures in the upper parts but this chosen field site also offers records of multiple
of the sulfate-bearing strata are filled with miner- periods in Mars history, grist for the missions investigation
als that betray circulation of groundwater. These of environmental changes on Mars, with strong prospects
fracture networks would represent yet a different, for identifying habitable environments.
subsurface habitable environment. The presence
of minerals lining these fractures indicates where Should Curiosity continue to be in working condition
Curiosity might conduct analyses to look for or- following the prime mission, an extended mission could
ganic compounds. continue the investigation by exploring higher, younger
layers of Gales mountain.

Recent, Current and Upcoming Missions
Building on scientific discoveries and lessons from had begun a fourth extension and was five days shy of
past and ongoing missions, NASAs Mars Exploration the 10th anniversary of its launch when it last communi-
Program is working to establish a sustained observa- cated with Earth. Mars Global Surveyor returned more
tional presence at Mars. This includes orbiters that view than 240,000 camera images, 206 million spectrometer
the planet from above and act as telecommunications measurements and 671 million laser-altimeter shots.
relays, surface-based mobile laboratories, robots that Some of the missions most significant findings include:
probe below the planets surface, and, ultimately, mis- discovering extensive layering of the planets crust;
sions that return soil and rock samples to Earth and discovering ancient deltas; discovering channels, a few
prepare for human landing. of which exhibit modern activity suggesting modern
liquid water; identifying concentrations of a mineral that
With international cooperation, the long-term program is often forms under wet conditions, leading to selection of
guided by compelling questions about Mars and de- one large deposit as the landing area for NASAs Mars
veloping technologies to make missions possible with Exploration Rover Opportunity; laser-altimeter obser-
available resources. The programs strategy is to seek to vations producing a nearly global map of the planets
uncover profound insights into Mars past and present topography, quantifying altitudes and slopes, and
environments, the roles and abundance of water, and characterizing myriad craters, including many eroded or
the potential for past or present habitats suitable for the buried craters too subtle for previous observation; com-
existence of life. piling extensive evidence for the role of dust in reshaping
the recent Martian environment; and detecting localized
The following are the most recently completed, ongoing remnant magnetic fields, proof that Mars once had a
and near-term future Mars missions of exploration by global magnetic field like Earths, shielding the surface
NASA and its international partners: from deadly cosmic rays and slowing loss of volatiles
to space. This orbiter provided details used to evaluate
Mars Pathfinder (December 1996 March 1998): the risks and attractions of potential landing sites for
The first completed mission in NASAs Discovery the Phoenix Mars Lander and the two Mars Exploration
Program of low-cost planetary missions with highly Rovers. It also served as a communications relay for the
focused scientific goals, Mars Pathfinder set ambitious Mars Exploration Rovers during and after their landings.
objectives and surpassed them. This lander released
its Sojourner rover on the Martian surface and returned Mars Odyssey (April 2001 present): This NASA
2.3 billion bits of information from instruments on the orbiters prime mapping mission began in March 2002.
lander and the rover. The information included more Its suite of gamma-ray spectrometer instruments soon
than 17,000 images, more than 15 chemical analyses of provided strong evidence for large quantities of frozen
rocks and soil, and extensive data on winds and other water mixed into the top layer of soil in the 20 percent of
aspects of weather. The observations suggest that early the planet near its north and south poles. Subsequently,
Mars may have been more Earth-like with liquid water on a site in this permafrost terrain became the destina-
its surface and a thicker atmosphere than it has today. tion for the Phoenix Mars Lander. Odysseys camera
The mission functioned on the Martian surface for about system, which examines the planet in both visible-light
three months, well beyond the planned lifetimes of 30 and infrared wavelengths, has identified minerals in
days for the lander and seven days for the rover. rocks and soils and has compiled the highest-resolution
global map of Mars. Nighttime infrared imaging provides
Mars Global Surveyor (November 1996 information about how quickly or slowly surface features
November 2006): During its primary mapping mission cool off after sunset, which gives an indication of where
from March 1999 through January 2001, NASAs Mars the surface is rocky and where it is dusty. Odysseys
Global Surveyor collected more information than any instruments have monitored the Mars atmosphere for
previous Mars project. The orbiter continued to examine more than a decade, including the tracking of non-con-
Mars surface and monitor its global weather patterns densable gases such as argon as tracers of atmospher-
through three mission extensions, successfully operat- ic transport. Odyssey has also monitored high-energy
ing longer than any previous spacecraft sent to Mars. It radiation at orbital altitudes to help characterize the en-

vironment that future missions, including possible human Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (July 2003
ones, will experience. Odysseys observations helped - present): This rover was sent to a flat region named
evaluate potential landing sites for the Mars Exploration Meridiani Planum, where the spectrometer on Mars
Rovers, Phoenix and Curiosity. Relays via this orbiter Global Surveyor had discovered a large exposure of the
have been the main way for the rovers and Phoenix to mineral hematite which often forms in the presence
send information to Earth; more than 95 percent of rover of water. On Jan. 25, 2004, Opportunity landed inside a
data has been returned via this communications work- crater only 72 feet (22 meters) in diameter and immedi-
horse. Odyssey is now the longest working spacecraft ately saw exposed bedrock in the craters inner slope.
ever sent to Mars. It will continue to map the planet while During the next few weeks, the rovers examination
providing relay support for Curiosity of that outcrop settled the long-running debate about
whether Mars ever had sustained liquid water on its sur-
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit (June 2003 March face. Composition and textures showed that the rocks
2010): The first of NASAs twin Mars Exploration Rovers not only had been saturated with water, but had actually
to land on Mars, Spirit was a mobile robotic field geolo- been laid down under gently flowing surface water.
gist sent to examine clues about the planets environ- For six months beginning in June 2004, Opportunity
mental history particularly the history of water at a examined deeper layers of rock inside a stadium-size
carefully selected site. Each rovers mission was planned crater, Endurance, about half a mile (700 meters) from
to run for three months on Mars, but each rover worked the landing site. The wall-rock layers had all soaked in
for years. Spirit explored inside Gusev Crater, a highly water, but textures in some showed that periods of dry,
eroded crater 95 miles (150 kilometers) in diameter. wind-blown deposition alternated with periods when
Orbital images suggested Gusev may have once held a water covered the surface. After examining its own jet-
lake fed by inflow from a large valley network funneling tisoned heat shield and a nickel-iron meteorite near this
into the crater from highlands to the south. Spirit landed crater, Opportunity drove more than 4 miles (6 kilome-
Jan.4, 2004, on a flat volcanic flood-plain pocked ters) southward to reach an even larger and deeper
with small craters and strewn with loose rocks. There, crater, Victoria. Here, it examined geological evidence
the rover found basaltic rocks only slightly altered by of similar environmental conditions from a greater span
exposure to moisture. By June 2004, well into its first of time. The presence of sulfur-rich material throughout
extended mission, Spirit had driven to a range named Opportunitys study area indicates acidic watery envi-
the Columbia Hills, about 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) from ronments. In mid-2008, Opportunity set off toward a
the landing site, in a quest to find exposed bedrock. crater 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter, Endeavour,
Exploring in the hills, Spirit discovered a profusion of where orbital observations have detected water-related
rocks and soils bearing evidence of extensive exposure clay minerals, different from any Opportunity has seen
to water, including the iron-oxide-hydroxide mineral so far and indicative of less-acidic watery environments.
goethite and hydrated sulfate salts. It found an outcrop In August 2011, with a total driving odometry of more
rich in carbonate, evidence for wet conditions that were than 21 miles (34 kilometers), the rover reached the rim
not acidic. Textures and compositions of materials at of Endeavour Crater to start a new phase of its explo-
a low plateau between hills indicated an early era on ration of Mars, demonstrating once more the value of
Mars when water and hot rocks interacted in explosive mobility and longevity.
volcanism. By driving with one immobile wheel whose
motor had worn out after three years on Mars, Spirit Mars Express (June 2003 present): This is a
serendipitously plowed up a hidden deposit of nearly European Space Agency orbiter with NASA participa-
pure silica. This discovery indicates that the site once tion in two of its seven investigations: a ground-pene-
had hot springs or steam vents, which are environments trating radar, and a tool for studying how the solar wind
that, on Earth, teem with microbial life. In June 2009, removes water vapor from Mars outer atmosphere.
Spirit became embedded in a patch of fine-grained The spacecraft has been returning color stereo images
material and was unable to extract itself after a second and other data since January 2004 after entering orbit
wheel stopped working. Prevented from parking itself in in late December 2003. Its spectrometer for visible
a position favorable for its solar array to generate energy, and near-infrared wavelengths found deposits of clay
Spirit was apparently unable to survive the long southern minerals indicating a long-ago wet environment that
winter, as no further communications were received. was less acidic than the one that produced the miner-
als studied by Opportunity. Scientists working with this
and similar data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

have proposed a sequence of globally distributed water have identified sites with high potential for future scien-
environments very early in Mars history, moving from tific discovery. In addition, the orbiters high-resolution
less to more acidic environments. Meanwhile, scientists cameras can reveal hazards to landing and roving
working with data from a thermal infrared spectrometer spacecraft, such as rocks and steep slopes, while its
found indications of methane in Mars atmosphere by atmospheric monitors characterize the environment that
averaging millions of spectra to improve signal-to-noise can be encountered during landing and operations on
ratio. Scientists presently believe that this gas would the surface. Observations by the Mars Reconnaissance
break down too rapidly to be detectable unless there Orbiter enabled the Phoenix mission to choose a land-
is an active source, either biological or non-biological, ing site less rocky than one previously considered. The
maintaining its concentration in the atmosphere. These orbiter has examined potential landing sites for Mars
discoveries have important implications for the habitabil- Science Laboratory and will serve as a relay asset during
ity of Mars, past and present. Since deployment of the the landing and surface operations of Curiosity.
radar antenna in June 2005, the spacecraft has exam-
ined ice-rich layered deposits covering the polar regions. Phoenix Mars Lander (August 2007 November
2008): In 2001, NASA announced a new program of
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (August 2005 competitively proposed and selected missions to Mars:
present): This multipurpose spacecraft is examining the Mars Scout missions. The Phoenix Mars Lander pro-
surface, subsurface and atmosphere of Mars in unprec- posal, submitted by a team led by Peter Smith of the
edented detail. It began its primary science investigations University of Arizona, Tucson, was selected out of 25
in November 2006, following 426 carefully planned dips proposals in 2003 to be the one developed for launch in
into the top of Mars atmosphere to adjust the size and 2007. The mission sent a stationary lander with a robotic
shape of its orbit after arriving at Mars in March 2006. digging arm and suite of science instruments to study
Specifically engineered to return the vast volumes of data the summer environment in a far-northern zone. Phoenix
generated by the high spatial resolution of its imaging confirmed and examined deposits of underground water
cameras and spectrometer, the orbiter has returned ice detected from orbit by Mars Odyssey. It identified a
more than three times as much data as the combined mineral called calcium carbonate that suggested occa-
total from all other space missions that have traveled sional presence of thawed water. The lander also found
farther than the moon. NASAs Deep Space Network soil chemistry with significant implications for life and ob-
antennas received more than 130 terabytes of data served falling snow. The missions biggest surprise was
including more than 70,000 images from the six sci- the discovery of perchlorate, an oxidizing chemical on
ence instruments on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter dur- Earth that is food for some microbes and potentially toxic
ing the missions first five years at Mars. The mission has for others, and which can lower the freezing point of
illuminated three very different periods of Mars history. Its liquid water by tens of degrees. It completed its planned
observations show that different types of watery environ- three months of operation on Mars and worked two
ments formed extensive deposits of water-related miner- extra months before the anticipated seasonal decline in
als including clays, sulfates and carbonates across solar energy at its high latitude ended the mission.
the planet early in Mars history. In more recent times,
water appears to have cycled as a gas between polar Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
ice deposits and lower-latitude deposits of ice and snow. Mission, or MAVEN (for launch in 2013): The sec-
Radar observations reveal internal, episodic patterns of ond Mars Scout mission, selected from 26 competitive
layering probably connected to cyclical variations in the proposals in 2007, will explore the planets upper atmo-
tilt of the planets rotation axis and the elliptical nature of sphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and
its orbit. These cycles modulate the solar heating of the solar wind. Various evidence suggests that Mars was a
poles to a much larger degree than occurs for Earth, wetter planet early in its history. Where has that water
with its ice ages, over periods of thousands to a few gone? Scientists will use MAVEN data to determine the
million years. Radar has also revealed a thick deposit of role that loss of volatile compounds, such as carbon
carbon-dioxide ice buried in the south polar cap, which, dioxide and water, from the Mars atmosphere to space
if released into the atmosphere, would nearly double has played through time, giving insight into the history
the amount of gas in the atmosphere today. With ob- of Mars atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and
servations of new craters, avalanches and dust storms planetary habitability. The principal investigator is Bruce
occurring even now, the orbiter has shown that modern Jakosky, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Mars is still a dynamic world. The orbiters observations

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (for launch in 2016): would study Mars. If chosen to fly, the proposed mis-
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have em- sion would investigate the structure and composition of
barked on a joint program to explore Mars. The ExoMars the interior of Mars and advance understanding of the
Trace Gas Orbiter will be the first in a series of planned formation and evolution of rocky planets. It would carry
joint robotic missions. It will study the chemical makeup a seismometer and a subsurface thermal probe, and it
of the Martian atmosphere with a 1,000-fold increase in would use radio tracking of tiny variations in Mars mo-
sensitivity over previous Mars orbiters. The mission will tions to provide information about the planets core. The
focus on trace gases, including methane, which could principal investigator is Bruce Banerdt at JPL.
be potentially geochemical or biological in origin and be
indicators for the existence of life on Mars today. The Beyond 2016: NASA is collaborating with the
mission also will serve as an additional communica- European Space Agency to gain further understanding
tions relay for Mars surface missions beginning in 2018. of Mars, including whether Mars has supported life. This
NASA and ESA selected five science investigations for international partnership is in the early stages of creat-
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in 2010. The mission will also ing a joint rover mission that would access and analyze
carry a European-built small lander demonstrator. subsurface materials, and characterize and prepare
samples for possible analysis by Earth-based labora-
InSight (in consideration for launch in 2016): One tories. Concepts for a program to return samples from
of three competing proposals selected as finalists for Mars to Earth envision a campaign of multiple missions
a 2016 launch as part of NASAs Discovery Program performing different steps in that challenge.

Mars Science: A Story of Changes
As the world in 1965 eagerly awaited results of the first intrigued by the possibility that life in some form
spacecraft flyby of Mars, everything we knew about the perhaps very simple microbes may have gained a
Red Planet was based on what sparse details could be foothold in ancient times when Mars was wetter, if not
gleaned by peering at it from telescopes on Earth. Since warmer. It is not unthinkable that life in some form could
the early 1900s, popular culture had been enlivened by persist today in underground springs warmed by heat
the notion of a habitable neighboring world crisscrossed vents around smoldering volcanoes, or even beneath
by canals and, possibly, inhabited by advanced life the thick ice caps. To investigate those possibilities,
forms that might have built them whether friendly or NASAs productive strategy has been to learn more
not. Astronomers were highly skeptical about the ca- about the history of water on Mars: How much was
nals, which looked more dubious the closer they looked. there? How long did it last? Where are formerly wet en-
About the only hard information they had on Mars was vironments that make the best destinations for seeking
that they could see it had seasons with ice caps that evidence of past life? Where might there be wet environ-
waxed and waned, along with seasonally changing ments capable of sustaining life today?
surface markings. By breaking down the light from Mars
into colors, they learned that its atmosphere was thin The consensus strategy for answering those questions
and dominated by an unbreathable gas, carbon dioxide. uses a balance of examining selected sites in great
detail while also conducting planet-wide surveys to
The past four decades have revolutionized that view. provide context for interpreting the selected sites. This
First, hopes of a lush, Earth-like world were deflated enables researchers to extrapolate from the intensively
when Mariner 4s flyby on July 15, 1965, revealed large investigated sites to regional and global patterns, and to
impact craters, like craters that cover Earths barren, life- identify which specific sites make the best candidates
less moon. Those holding out for Martians were further for targeted examination.
discouraged when NASAs two Viking landers were sent
to the surface in 1976 equipped with a suite of chem- One way this balance works is in the combination
istry experiments that turned up no conclusive sign of punch of orbital and surface missions. Mineral map-
biological activity. Mars as we came to know it was cold, ping by NASAs orbiting Mars Global Surveyor identified
nearly airless and bombarded by hostile radiation from a hematite deposit that made Meridiani Planum the
both the sun and from deep space. selected landing site for NASAs Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity. The hematite suggested a possible water
Since then, however, new possibilities of a more hospi- history. Opportunitys examination of the composition
table Martian past have emerged. Mars is a much more and fine structure of rocks where it landed confirmed
complex body than Earths moon. Scientists scrutinizing that the site had had surface and underground water,
pictures from the orbiters of the 1970s detected surface and added details about the acidity of the water and the
features potentially shaped by liquid water, perhaps alternation of wet and dry periods at the site. Meanwhile,
even the shoreline of an ancient ocean. Eight successful halfway around the planet at Gusev Crater, the Spirit
Mars missions since the mid-1990s have advanced the rover found evidence of materials altered in an ancient
story. Accumulated evidence shows that the surface of hydrothermal system. This ground truthing by the rover
Mars appears to be shaped by flowing water in hun- improves interpretation of current orbiters observations
dreds of places; that some Mars rocks formed in water; of the surrounding region. Conversely, orbiters observa-
that significant amounts of water as ice and in hydrated tions add context for understanding how the environ-
minerals still make up a fraction of the top surface layer ment that landing-site rocks reveal about a particular
of Mars in many areas; and that water may, even today, place and time fits into a broader history.
occasionally emerge from the ground to flow briefly
before freezing or evaporating. Similarly, the Phoenix Mars Lander investigated a site
with intriguing characteristics discovered from orbit.
Although it appears unlikely that complex organisms Spectrometers on NASAs Mars Odyssey orbiter found
similar to advanced life on Earth could have existed evidence of copious water ice within the top 3 feet (1
on Mars comparatively hostile surface, scientists are meter) of the surface in high-latitude and some mid-

latitude regions. Phoenix landed at a far-northern site readers with tales of adventures among the exotic
and confirmed the presence of plentiful water ice just inhabitants of Mars, which he called Barsoom.
beneath the surface. In the soil above the ice, Phoenix
found a chemical called perchlorate, which could serve Fact began to turn against such imaginings when the
as an energy source for microbes and as a potent anti- first robotic spacecraft were sent to Mars in the 1960s.
freeze enabling water to be liquid at low temperature. Pictures from the 1965 flyby of Mariner 4 and the 1969
flybys of Mariner 6 and 7 showed a desolate world,
As another example of the synergy among Mars space- pocked with impact craters similar to those seen on
craft, NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which Earths moon. Mariner 9 arrived in 1971 to orbit Mars
reached Mars in 2006, found a less rocky, safer land- for the first time, but showed up just after an enormous
ing site for Phoenix. The orbiter also examined more dust storm had engulfed the entire planet. When the
than 30 potential landing sites for the Mars Science storm died down, Mariner 9 revealed a world that,
Laboratory. Four finalist sites were examined in thor- while partly crater-pocked like Earths moon, was much
ough detail to identify specific mineral deposits of inter- more geologically complex, complete with gigantic
est and potential landing hazards down to the scale of canyons, volcanoes, dune fields and polar ice caps.
individual rocks before Gale Crater was chosen as the This first wave of Mars exploration culminated in the
landing site. Viking mission, which sent two orbiters and two land-
ers to the planet in 1975. The landers carried a suite of
The Mars Science Laboratory is NASAs first astrobiol- experiments that conducted chemical tests to detect
ogy mission to Mars since the Viking landers. One goal life. Most scientists interpreted the results of these tests
of NASAs Astrobiology Program is to determine the as negative, deflating hopes of identifying another world
history of any environment having liquid water, other where life might be or have been widespread. However,
chemical ingredients of life, and energy sources that Viking left a huge legacy of information about Mars that
might have sustained living systems. Astrobiologys fed a hungry science community for two decades.
investment in Mars exploration is geared toward iden-
tifying, categorizing and understanding locations on The science community had many other reasons for
Mars that may have once supported habitable environ- being interested in Mars, apart from the direct search
ments. This includes developing tools and techniques for life. The next mission on the drawing boards con-
for identifying mineralogical and physical signs of liquid centrated on a study of the planets geology and climate
water, biosignatures and chemical evidence of ancient using advanced orbital reconnaissance. Over the next
habitats. 20 years, however, new findings in laboratories and in
extreme environments on Earth came to change the
Myths and Reality way that scientists thought about life and Mars.
Mars caught public fancy in the late 1870s, when Italian One was the 1996 announcement by a team from
astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli reported using a tele- Stanford University and NASAs Johnson Space Center
scope to observe canali, or channels, on Mars. A pos- that a meteorite believed to have originated on Mars
sible mistranslation of this word as canals may have contained what might be the fossils of ancient bacteria.
fired the imagination of Percival Lowell, an American This rock and other Mars meteorites discovered on sev-
businessman with an interest in astronomy. Lowell eral continents on Earth appear to have been blasted
founded an observatory in Arizona, where his observa- off Mars by asteroid or comet impacts. The evidence
tions of Mars convinced him that the canals were dug that they are from Mars comes from gases trapped in
by intelligent beings a view that he energetically them that unmistakably match the composition of Mars
promoted for many years. atmosphere as measured by the Viking landers. Many
scientists have questioned the conclusions of the team
By the turn of the last century, popular songs envi- announcing the discovery of possible life in one Martian
sioned sending messages between worlds by way of meteorite, but if nothing else, the mere presence of
huge signal mirrors. On the dark side, H.G. Wells 1898 organic compounds in the meteorites increases the
novel The War of the Worlds portrayed an invasion of odds of life forming at an earlier time on a wetter Mars.
Earth by technologically superior Martians desperate for The debate has also focused attention on what types
water. In the early 1900s novelist Edgar Rice Burroughs, of experiments would be most useful for assessing
known for the Tarzan series, also entertained young

whether an extraterrestrial site or sample has ever held NASAs Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity established
anything alive. that rocks in at least one part of Mars were formed un-
der flowing surface water billions of years ago. Minerals
Another development shaping ideas about extrater- present indicate the ancient water was very acidic.
restrial life was a string of spectacular findings on how Halfway around the planet, Opportunitys twin, Spirit,
and where life thrives on Earth. The fundamental re- found a carbonate deposit offering evidence for a wet
quirements for life as we know it today are liquid water, environment that was less acidic and found a nearly
organic compounds and an energy source for synthesiz- pure silica deposit formed by a hot spring or steam vent.
ing complex organic molecules. In recent years, it has Either of those long-ago environments deduced from
become increasingly clear that life can thrive in settings Spirits observations could have been even more favor-
much harsher than what we as humans can experience. able for microbial life than the conditions that left the
clues found by Opportunity.
In the 1980s and 1990s, biologists found that microbial
life has an amazing flexibility for surviving in extreme The European Space Agencys Mars Express has identi-
environments niches that by turn are extraordinarily fied exposures of clay minerals that probably formed
hot, or cold, or dry, or under immense pressures that in long-lasting, less-acidic wet conditions even earlier
would be completely inhospitable to humans or com- in Mars history than the conditions that produced the
plex animals. Some scientists even deduce that life on minerals examined by Opportunity through 2010. Mars
Earth may have begun at hot vents far under the oceans Express and telescopic studies from Earth have found
surface. traces of atmospheric methane at Mars that might come
from volcanic or biological sources. A radar instrument
This in turn had its effect on how scientists thought co-sponsored by NASA and the Italian Space Agency
about Mars. Martian life might not be so widespread that on the European orbiter has assessed the thickness and
it would be readily found at the foot of a lander space- water content of icy layers covering Mars south polar
craft, but it may have thrived billions of years ago in an region, yielding an estimate that the quantity of water fro-
underground thermal spring or other hospitable environ- zen into those icy layers is equivalent to a 36-foot-thick
ment. Or it might still exist in some form in niches below (11-meter-thick) coating of the whole planet.
the currently frigid, dry, windswept surface, perhaps
shielded in ice or in liquid water aquifers. Since 2006, NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has
radically expanded our knowledge of the Red Planet.
Each successful Mars mission uncovers more pages of Observing the planet at the highest spatial resolutions
the planets story. After years of studying pictures from yet achieved from orbit, this mission has provided copi-
the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters, scientists gradually ous information about ancient environments, ice-age-
came to conclude that many features they saw sug- scale climate cycles and present-day changes on Mars.
gested that Mars may have been warm and wet in an It has mapped water-related mineral deposits, including
earlier era. multiple types of clay minerals, in hundreds of locations,
and carbonates in several locales, confirming a story of
Two decades after Viking, NASAs Mars Pathfinder alteration by water in a diversity of environments early in
observed rounded pebbles and sockets in larger rocks, Martian history and a dramatic change to very acidic wa-
suggesting conglomerates that formed in running water. ter in many areas after an era of more neutral conditions.
Mars Global Surveyors camera detected possible evi-
dence for recent liquid water in many settings, including With regard to recent Mars history, the Mars
hundreds of hillside gullies. That orbiters longevity even Reconnaissance Orbiter has added evidence of ongoing
allowed before-and-after imaging that showed fresh climate-change cycles linked to how changes in the tilt
gully-flow deposits in 2005 that had not been present of the planets rotation axis alter intensity of sunlight near
earlier in the mission. Observations by Global Surveyor the poles. This evidence includes radar observations of
and Odyssey have also been interpreted as evidence episodic layering within the polar ice caps and of debris-
that Mars is still adjusting from a recent ice age as part of covered ice deposits. Other observations have revealed
a repeating cycle of global climate change. The cycle re- water ice just below the surface in middle latitudes,
sults from changes in the tilt of the rotational axis of Mars exposed in small craters formed by fresh impacts identi-
on time scales of hundreds of thousands to a few million fied in before-and-after observations. These findings and
years. Mars tilt varies much more than Earths. their implications for ongoing cycles of climate change

put water ice closer to the equator on modern Mars, in- plates, so their crusts grew cold and static relatively
cluding possibly beneath the Viking 2 Lander, than most soon after they formed when the solar system con-
researchers imagined a few years ago. densed into planets about 4.6 billion years ago. Devoid
of atmospheres, they are riddled with craters that are rel-
Orbital studies in recent years have also revealed some ics of impacts from a period of bombardment when the
processes on Mars very unlike those on Earth related to inner planets were sweeping up remnants of small rocky
temperatures low enough to freeze some of the carbon- bodies that failed to make it as planets in the solar
dioxide gas out of the planets thin atmosphere, which is systems early times.
mostly that gas. Carbon-dioxide ice blankets the ground
around whichever pole is in winter. In the spring, sunlight Earth and Venus, by contrast, are larger planets with
penetrates the translucent ice, heating it from below. substantial internal heat sources and significant at-
As the carbon dioxide thaws back into gas, it triggers mospheres. Earths surface is continually reshaped by
geyser-like eruptions in some areas and fresh flows of tectonic plates sliding under and against each other and
sand on slopes in other areas. by materials spouting forth from active volcanoes where
plates are ripped apart. Both Earth and Venus have
The surface pressure of the Mars atmosphere varies been paved over so recently that both lack any discern-
over the year as the seasonal carbon-dioxide frost forms ible record of cratering from the era of bombardment in
and then sublimes at each pole in turn. A major finding the early solar system.
by the radar on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a thick,
hidden layer of carbon-dioxide ice deep in the water On the basis of current yet evolving knowledge, Mars
ice that forms the bulk of the south polar ice cap. This appears to stand between those sets of worlds. Like
deposit may contain nearly as much carbon-dioxide as Earth and Venus, it possesses many volcanoes, al-
todays Martian atmosphere. This implies that the total though they probably did not remain active as long as
mass of the atmosphere on Mars can change several counterparts on Earth and Venus. On Earth, a single
fold on time scales of hundreds of thousands of years hot spot or plume might form a chain of middling-size
or less. Computer modeling indicates that during larger islands, such as the Hawaiian Islands, as a tectonic
tilt, when summertime solar heating at the poles is more plate slowly slides over it. On Mars, there are appar-
intense, most of the frozen carbon-dioxide rejoins the ently no such tectonic plates, at least as far as we know
atmosphere, and that during smaller tilt, most of the today, so when volcanoes formed in place they had the
atmosphere freezes out. time to become much more enormous than the rapidly
moving volcanoes on Earth. Overall, Mars appears to be
Modern Mars is a more dynamic planet today than we neither as dead as Mercury and our moon, nor as active
realized before the advent of frequent, high-resolution as Earth and Venus. As one scientist quips, Mars is a
imaging. Hundreds of sets of before-and-after images warm corpse, if not a fire-breathing dragon. Thanks to
from Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance the ongoing observations by current missions, however,
Orbiter document soil flowing down gullies, rocks this view of Mars is still evolving.
bouncing down hills, dunes migrating, craters forming,
icy layers receding and dust blowing. Cameras in orbit Mars almost resembles two different worlds that have
have even caught avalanches and tall whirlwinds as they been glued together. From latitudes around the equa-
happen. Image sequences from Spirit show the motions tor to the south are ancient highlands pockmarked with
of dust devils dancing across the landscape and clouds craters from the solar systems early era, yet riddled with
scooting across the sky. Thus, the Martian landscape, channels that attest to the flow of water. The northern
which has changed dramatically in the past, continues third of the planet, however, overall is sunken and much
to change today. smoother at mile (kilometer) scales. Analysis of sub-
surface densities by their gravitational effect on orbiters
Three Ages of Mars supports a theory that an impactor almost big enough
to be a planet itself bashed Mars early in Martian history,
Based on what they have learned from spacecraft mis- excavating the largest crater in the solar system. If that
sions, scientists view Mars as the in-between planet happened, it was long-enough ago that it would not
of the inner solar system. Small rocky planetary bodies explain the smoothness of the northern plains. Theories
such as Mercury and Earths moon apparently did not for that range from proposing that the plains are the floor
have enough internal heat to drive the motion of tectonic

of an ancient sea to proposing that the smoothness is is so thin that pure water exposed to it can be stable
merely the end product of innumerable lava flows. only as a solid or a gas, not as a liquid. The climate and
perhaps the stability of water at the surface may vary on
Scientists today view Mars as having had three broad scales of thousands to millions of years as the tilt of the
ages, each named for a geographic area that typifies it: planet and its distance from the sun waver cyclically.
The Noachian Era is the name given to the time Apart from that broad outline, there is lively debate and
spanning roughly the first billion years of Mars existence disagreement on the details of Mars history. How wet
after the planet was formed 4.6 billion years ago. In this was the planet, and how long ago? What eventually
era, scientists suspect that Mars was quite active with happened to all of the water? That is all a story that is
periods of warm and wet environments, erupting volca- still being written.
noes and some degree of tectonic activity. The planet
may have had a thicker atmosphere to support flowing Even if we ultimately learn that Mars never harbored life
water, and it may have rained and snowed. as we know it here on Earth, scientific exploration of the
Red Planet can assist in understanding the history and
In the Hesperian Era, which lasted for about the evolution of life on our own world. Much if not all of the
next 500 million to 1.5 billion years, geologic activity was evidence for the origin of life here on Earth has been
slowing down and near-surface water perhaps was obliterated by the rapid pace of weathering and global
freezing to form surface and buried ice masses. Despite tectonics that have operated over billions of years. Mars,
plunging temperatures, water pooled underground by comparison, is a composite world with some regions
erupted when heated by impacts in catastrophic that may have histories similar to Earths ancient crust,
floods that surged across vast stretches of the surface while others are a frozen gallery of the solar systems
floods so powerful that they unleashed the force early days.
of thousands of Mississippi Rivers. Eventually, water
became locked up as permafrost or subsurface ice, or Thus, even if life never developed on Mars something
was partially lost into outer space. that we cannot answer just yet scientific exploration of
the planet may yield critical information unobtainable by
The Amazonian Era is the current age that began any other means about the pre-biotic chemistry that led
around 2 billion to 3 billion years ago. The planet is to life on Earth. Mars as a fossil graveyard of the chemi-
now a dry, desiccating environment with only a modest cal conditions that fostered life on Earth is an intriguing
atmosphere in relation to Earth. In fact, the atmosphere possibility.

Historical Mars Missions
Mission: Country, Launch Date, Purpose, Results Mars 3: USSR, 5/28/71, Mars orbiter/lander, arrived
12/3/71, lander operated on surface for 20 seconds
Marsnik 1: USSR, 10/10/60, Mars flyby, did not reach before failing
Earth orbit
Mariner 9: U.S., 5/30/71, Mars orbiter, operated in orbit
Marsnik 2: USSR, 10/14/60, Mars flyby, did not reach 11/13/71 to 10/27/72, returned 7,329 photos
Earth orbit
Mars 4: USSR, 7/21/73, failed Mars orbiter, flew past
Sputnik 22: USSR, 10/24/62, Mars flyby, achieved Mars 2/10/74
Earth orbit only
Mars 5: USSR, 7/25/73, Mars orbiter, arrived 2/12/74,
Mars 1: USSR, 11/1/62, Mars flyby, radio failed at 65.9 lasted a few days
million miles (106 million kilometers)
Mars 6: USSR, 8/5/73, Mars flyby module and lander,
Sputnik 24: USSR, 11/4/62, Mars flyby, achieved Earth arrived 3/12/74, lander failed due to fast impact
orbit only
Mars 7: USSR, 8/9/73, Mars flyby module and lander,
Mariner 3: U.S., 11/5/64, Mars flyby, shroud failed to arrived 3/9/74, lander missed the planet
jettison
Viking 1: U.S., 8/20/75, Mars orbiter/lander, orbit
Mariner 4: U.S. 11/28/64, first successful Mars flyby 6/19/76-1980, lander 7/20/76-1982
7/14/65, returned 21 photos
Viking 2: U.S., 9/9/75, Mars orbiter/lander, orbit 8/7/76-
Zond 2: USSR, 11/30/64, Mars flyby, passed Mars but 1987, lander 9/3/76-1980; combined, the Viking orbit-
radio failed, returned no planetary data ers and landers returned more than 50,000 photos
Mariner 6: U.S., 2/24/69, Mars flyby 7/31/69, returned Phobos 1: USSR, 7/7/88, Mars orbiter and Phobos
75 photos lander, lost 8/88 en route to Mars
Mariner 7: U.S., 3/27/69, Mars flyby 8/5/69, returned Phobos 2: USSR, 7/12/88, Mars orbiter and Phobos
126 photos lander, lost 3/89 near Phobos
Mars 1969A: USSR, 3/27/69, Mars orbiter, did not Mars Observer: U.S., 9/25/92, Mars orbiter, lost just
reach Earth orbit before Mars arrival 8/21/93
Mars 1969B: USSR, 4/2/69, Mars orbiter, failed during Mars Global Surveyor: U.S., 11/7/96, Mars orbiter,
launch arrived 9/12/97, high-detail mapping through 1/00, third
extended mission completed 9/06, last communication
Mariner 8: U.S., 5/8/71, Mars orbiter, failed during 11/2/06
launch
Mars 96: Russia, 1/16/96, orbiter/two landers/two pen-
Kosmos 419: USSR, 5/10/71, Mars lander, achieved etrators, launch vehicle failed
Earth orbit only
Mars Pathfinder: U.S., 12/4/96, Mars lander/rover,
Mars 2: USSR, 5/19/71, Mars orbiter/lander arrived landed 7/4/97, completed prime mission and began
11/27/71, no useful data, lander burned up due to steep extended mission 8/3/97, last transmission 9/27/97
entry

Nozomi: Japan, 7/4/98, Mars orbiter, failed to enter Mars Exploration Rover Spirit: U.S., 6/10/03, Mars
orbit 12/03 rover, landed 1/4/04 for three-month prime mission
inside Gusev Crater, completed several extended mis-
Mars Climate Orbiter: U.S., 12/11/98, lost upon ar- sions, last communication 3/22/10
rival 9/23/99
Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity: U.S., 7/7/03,
Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2: U.S., 1/3/99, Mars rover, landed 1/25/04 for three-month prime mis-
lander/two penetrators, lost on arrival 12/3/99 sion in Meridiani Planum region, currently conducting
extended mission
Mars Odyssey: U.S., 3/7/01, Mars orbiter, arrived
10/24/01, completed prime mission 8/25/04, currently Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: U.S., 8/12/05, Mars
conducting extended mission of science and communi- orbiter, arrived 3/12/06, completed prime mission
cation relay 9/26/10, currently conducting extended mission of sci-
ence and communication relay
Mars Express/Beagle 2: European Space Agency,
6/2/03, Mars orbiter/lander, orbiter completed prime Phoenix Mars Lander: U.S., 8/4/07, Mars lander,
mission 11/05, currently in extended mission; lander landed 5/25/08, completed prime mission and began
lost on arrival 12/25/03 extended mission 8/26/08, last communication 11/2/08

Program Project Management
The Mars Science Laboratory Project is managed by Michael Meyer is lead scientist for the Mars Exploration
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for Program and program scientist for the Mars Science
NASAs Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL Laboratory. Mary Voytek is deputy program scientist for
is a division of the California Institute of Technology in the Mars Science Laboratory. David Lavery is program
Pasadena. executive for the Mars Science Laboratory.
At NASA Headquarters, Washington, the Mars At JPL, Fuk Li is Mars Program manager and Roger
Exploration Program is managed by the Science Gibbs is deputy manager. Richard Zurek and David
Mission Directorate. Edward Weiler is associate ad- Beaty are Mars chief scientists. Peter Theisinger is Mars
ministrator for the Science Mission Directorate and Science Laboratory project manager and Richard Cook
Charles Gay is deputy associate administrator. Douglas is deputy project manager. John Grotzinger, of Caltech, is
McCuistion is director of the Mars Exploration Program. Mars Science Laboratory project scientist, and Joy Crisp
and Ashwin Vasavada are deputy project scientists.


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Press Kit/NOVEMBER 2011

Mars Science Laboratory Launch

Guy Webster Mars Science Laboratory 818-354-5011

George Diller Launch 321-867-2468

Jessica Rye Launch Vehicle 321-730-5646

Science Payload Investigations

Media Services Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mars Science Laboratory Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Comparing Two Mars Rover Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Recent, Current and Upcoming Missions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Mars Science: A Story of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Historical Mars Missions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Program/Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 5 Press Kit

Cost: $2.5 billion, including $1.8 billlion for spacecraft

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 6 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 7 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 8 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 9 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 10 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 11 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 12 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 13 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 14 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 15 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 16 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 17 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 18 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 19 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 20 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 21 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 22 Press Kit

Throughout Curiositys mission on Mars, MARDI will offer Engineering Instruments

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 23 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 24 Press Kit

Atlas V 541 launch vehicle, expanded view

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 25 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 26 Press Kit

Burn Coast Burn

Solid Rocket Booster Jettison

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 27 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 28 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 29 Press Kit

Sky Crane Detail

Cruise Balance Devices Separation Mobility

Back Shell Separation

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Mars Science Laboratory Launch 31 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 32 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 33 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 34 Press Kit

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 35 Press Kit

Rovers 1 (Curiosity) 2 (Spirit and Opportunity)

Launch vehicle Atlas V Delta II

Science Payload 10 instruments, 165 pounds 5 instruments, 11 pounds

Power supply on Mars Multi-mission radioisotope Solar photovoltaic panels

Computer Redundant pair, 200 megahertz, Single, 20 megahertz,

Mars Science Laboratory Launch 36 Press Kit