AP
Seeking life: The rover is equipped with a drill to gather samples
underground and send them to a self-contained lab to determine if there
are any microorganisms present on the planet.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has high expectations for the upcoming
landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars and is certain of great science
results, a lab engineer says.
Torsten Zorn, a robotics engineer with JPL and a four-year veteran on
the Curiosity project team, told Xinhua in an interview that the most
interesting part of the venture could be learning more about the
geological history of Mars.
Zorn said scientists want to find out how Mars’ once wet surface dried
up, how long the process took and what caused the changes. The findings
will be important for scientists to determine whether Mars is habitable
for humans.
To find life, in any form, Zorn said, is a goal of Curiosity. The rover
is equipped with a drill to gather samples underground and send them to a
self-contained lab to determine Mars’ geological conditions and
changes, and if there are any microorganisms present on the planet. The
small lab will also test the soil samples to see if there are signs of
life in the history of Mars.
Curiosity will test the Mars soil only with its own equipment after it
lands on the planet on Sunday (August 5) but future missions will bring
samples back to Earth for more study, Zorn said.
Zorn said many Americans have volunteered for the first one-way trip to
Mars, but he said that if scientists can send human to Mars, they can
also guarantee a return trip.
Paving the way
Curiosity will help pave the way for future manned Mars missions, Zorn said.
“It will definitely do its part to further help man’s ability to land on
another planet,” he said. “We have a couple of different instruments
onboard that will increase our knowledge of the environment, the
radiation environment, the chemistry of the surface. There are many
different ways that are helping should we decide to pursue a human space
program to Mars. This is one of the stepping stones towards that goal.”
Curiosity will concentrate on a small area of Mars to conduct detailed
research, Zorn said, but following traces of water should be the general
rule.
Curiosity also will take video images for the first time and send them back to Earth, Zorn said.
Using plutonium decay
The rover also will be the first to use nuclear power thanks to a
radioisotope thermoelectric generator that will utilize the heat of
plutonium-238’s radioactive decay.
The long-lived power supply will enable Curiosity to operate for at least a full Mars year (687 Earth days, or 1.9 Earth years).
Zorn said nuclear power is not new to spacecraft and was available in
the 1960s. The technology is much more advanced now and suitable for use
in a long-range rover such the Curiosity. “I am very close to 100
percent sure” of success, he said, adding that the lab has tested
Curious under almost all scenarios and has prepared several years for
the mission.
Curiosity represents an international effort, Zorn said, because it contains parts from Russia, Spain and Canada.
With a length of 10 feet and weight of 899 kg, the rover is the largest
vehicle humans have sent to other planets, Zorn said. The Curiosity
program has cost a total of 2.5 billion dollars, including 1.8 billion
dollars for spacecraft development and science investigations, NASA
said.
Curiosity, launched on Nov. 26, 2011, will travel almost 352 million miles (567 million km) to reach Mars.
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