Current Event 7

On the 26th of November NASA launched its most advanced Rover to Mars. The launch time was 10:02 EST, at the Cape Canaveral Air force station. The car-sized rover is equipped with the latest and most advance technology, it is named Curiosity. It is designed to thoroughly investigate mars and send information back to its home base. The rocket, which flew it to mars, has new precision landing technology; the rover is expected to land on August 6th 2012 near the Gale crater. Curiosity has two robotic arms, allowing it to do science in real time, in a way its never been done before. It will have a two year prime mission, which is to collect information about the surface of planet Mars. One of the key differences when compared to earlier rovers is its ambitious science goals. It will use a drill and scoop, at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powered samples of rocks, then it will categories the things it found into different lab test tubes and pockets. Curiosity carries 10 science instruments, with a total mass 15 times greater than that on the Spirit rover. Some of the tools are a first of its kind, laser-firing instruments for checking elemental compositions for rocks that are far away. I am really amazed by the potential of this new rover; it could open a entirely new world to us. With its better driving capabilities, and more advance technology it will show us Mars from a perspective we have never seen it before. If the mission is successful it will bring back very valuable information which could hint us about possible forms of life on Mars and its origins.