What does curiosity rover run on

The goals are closely interlinked. For example, understanding the current climate of Mars will also help determine whether humans can safely explore its surface. Studying the geology of Mars will help scientists better understand if the region near Curiosity's landing site was habitable.

To assist with better meeting these large goals, NASA broke down the science goals into eight smaller objectives , ranging from biology to geology to planetary processes. In support of the science, Curiosity has a suite of instruments on board to better examine the environment. This includes:.

The spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. Instead, the rover went through an extremely complicated sequence of maneuvers to land. From a fiery entry into the atmosphere, a supersonic parachute needed to deploy to slow the spacecraft. NASA officials said the parachute would need to withstand 65, lbs. Under the parachute, MSL let go of the bottom of its heat shield so that it could get a radar fix on the surface and figure out its altitude.

The parachute could only slow MSL to mph kph , far too fast for landing. To solve the problem, engineers designed the assembly to cut off the parachute, and use rockets for the final part of the landing sequence.

About 60 feet 18 m above the surface, MSL's "skycrane" deployed. The landing assembly dangled the rover below the rockets using a foot 6 m tether. Falling at 1. NASA personnel tensely watched the rover's descent on live television. When they received confirmation that Curiosity was safe, engineers pumped fists and jumped up and down in jubilation. News of the landing spread through traditional outlets, such as newspapers and television, as well as social media, such as Twitter and Facebook.

One engineer became famous because of the Mohawk he sported on landing day. The rover has a few tools to search for habitability.

Among them is an experiment that bombards the surface with neutrons , which would slow down if they encountered hydrogen atoms: one of the elements of water. Curiosity's 7-foot arm can pick up samples from the surface and cook them inside the rover, sniffing the gases that come out of there and analyzing them for clues as to how the rocks and soil formed.

The Sample Analysis of Mars instrument , if it does pick up evidence of organic material, can double-check that. On Curiosity's front, under foil covers, are several ceramic blocks infused with artificial organic compounds. Curiosity can drill into each of these blocks and place a sample into its oven to measure its composition. When the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars yesterday, a specially designed nuclear generator kicked into action.

Previous Mars missions have relied on solar panels to power the rovers, but exploration was slowed down by dust build-up on the solar panels or short winters days with little sunlight. The Curiosity Rover, which is as big as a large car, is also significantly larger and ten times heavier than previous Martian rovers. The Curiosity is essentially a robotic science lab, equipped with sophisticated instruments for taking ground samples and analyzing their chemical make-up in the search for signs of life.

This testing and communications equipment needs a lot of power to operate and needs to maintain a certain temperature to effectively operate on Mars where temperatures can go far below freezing.

The nuclear generator delivers both heat and watts of steady electric power from an array of iridium capsules holding a ceramic form of plutonium dioxide. The rover requires power to operate. Without power, it cannot move, use its science instruments, or communicate with Earth. In the summer of , Curiosity's science team began driving the rover toward a new and higher region on Mount Sharp where it will explore rocks rich in sulphate minerals.

Because Mount Sharp was formed as layers of sediment were deposited by water and wind, the rocks get younger with height. The sulphate minerals in this region may have formed because Mars went from wetter conditions—good for forming clay minerals—to drier conditions that could leave salts such as sulphates behind. On Sol , Curiosity completed its steepest drive of the mission as it ascended the sandy slope below the Greenheugh pediment, a broad flat surface capped by a sandstone layer.

The rover took these images on Sol as it looked across the layered sandstones and back over the Glen Torridon region below. We all know Mars as the Red Planet, we see that in the night sky. However, as our drill tailings gallery shows, once we drill just a small depth in to the interior, Mars can be very different. We have drilled successfully 29 times now and the sediments show a range of hues from ochre-red to blue-grey reflecting the minerals and fluids that passed through the ancient rocks.

Drilling allows us to get through the top most, oxidized surface that has been most exposed to cosmic radiation. Curiosity in isolation at Glasgow. Each of the pixels is about 25cm, so we can pick out the rover quite nicely in the centre of the field of view.

We had just completed a drill at a site we named Glasgow. Because of the lockdown an even greater proportion of rover operations was being done by staff working from home. But after eight Earth years, more than three Martian years and 29 drill holes - all is still working pretty well.