Mars Rover Curiosity Takes Off   
       
   Nov. 26, 2011:  NASA began a historic voyage to Mars with the Nov. 26 launch   
   of the Mars Science Laboratory, which carries a car-sized rover named   
   Curiosity. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V   
   rocket occurred at 10:02 a.m. EST (7:02 a.m. PST).   
       
   "We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced scientific   
   laboratory to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "MSL will tell us   
   critical things we need to know about Mars, and while it advances science,   
   we'll be working on the capabilities for a human mission to the Red Planet and   
   to other destinations where we've never been."   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html   
       
   The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science   
   Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft, including the new rover, Curiosity, lifted off on   
   time on the first opportunity at 10:02 a.m. EST on Nov. 26.   
   The mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane   
   touchdown to place Curiosity near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on   
   Aug. 6, 2012. During a nearly two-year prime mission after landing, the rover   
   will investigate whether the region has ever offered conditions favorable for   
   microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life.   
       
   "The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and   
   we're on our way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Peter   
   Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "The   
   spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive."   
       
   The Atlas V initially lofted the spacecraft into Earth orbit and then, with a   
   second burst from the vehicle's upper stage, pushed it out of Earth orbit into   
   a 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) journey to Mars.   
       
   "Our first trajectory correction maneuver will be in about two weeks,"   
   Theisinger said. "We'll do instrument checkouts in the next several weeks and   
   continue with thorough preparations for the landing on Mars and operations on   
   the surface."   
       
   http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2011/11/26/curiosity.jpg   
       
   An artist's concept of NASA's biggest-ever Mars rover Curiosity examining a   
   rock on the Red Planet. [larger image]. Curiosity's ambitious science goals   
   are among the mission's many differences from earlier Mars rovers. It will use   
   a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered   
   samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into   
   analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover. Curiosity carries 10   
   science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the s   
   ience-instrument payloads on the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of   
   the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing   
   instrument for checking the elemental composition of rocks from a distance,   
   and an X-ray diffraction instrument for definitive identification of minerals   
   in powdered samples.   
       
   To haul and wield its science payload, Curiosity is twice as long and five   
   times as heavy as Spirit or Opportunity. Because of its one-ton mass,   
   Curiosity is too heavy to employ airbags to cushion its landing as previous   
   Mars rovers could. Part of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is a   
   rocket-powered descent stage that will lower the rover on tethers as the   
   rocket engines control the speed of descent.   
       
   The mission's landing site offers Curiosity access for driving to layers of   
   the mountain inside Gale Crater. Observations from orbit have identified clay   
   and sulfate minerals in the lower layers, indicating a wet history.   
       
   Precision landing maneuvers as the spacecraft flies through the Martian   
   atmosphere before opening its parachute make Gale a safe target for the first   
   time. This innovation shrinks the target area to less than one-fourth the size   
   of earlier Mars landing targets. Without it, rough terrain at the edges of   
   Curiosity's target would make the site unacceptably hazardous.   
       
   The innovations for landing a heavier spacecraft with greater precision are   
   steps in technology development for human Mars missions. In addition,   
   Curiosity carries an instrument for monitoring the natural radiation   
   environment on Mars, important information for designing human Mars missions   
   that protect astronauts' health.   
       
   Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   More Information   
   Mars Science Lab (a.k.a. "Curiosity") -- home page   
       
   The Strange Attraction of Gale Crater -- Science@NASA   
       
   A Mars Rover Named Curiosity -- Science@NASA   
       
   Credits: The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute   
   of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in   
   Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. NASA's   
   Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida managed the   
   launch. NASA's Space Network provided space communication services for the   
   launch vehicle. NASA's Deep Space Network will provide spacecraft acquisition   
   and mission communication.   
       
   For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and   
   http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.64   
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