Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
To view this on desktop, click here. This month, to mark the 45th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, the CNN show The Art of Movement looks at space travel. Click through the gallery to learn about the technology behind the Mars Curiosity rover.
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
The Mast: Standing at an impressive seven feet tall -- that's just a little shorter than the tallest ever NBA basketball player -- NASA's Curiosity has a pretty spectacular field of vision on the Red Planet. It's "head and neck," known as the "mast," holds seven of the 17 "eye" cameras the rover has in total. A laser can be beamed out from the large ChemCam in its "forehead," which hits the top surface layer and analyzes the vapor to determine if there is anything of interest (for example, substances that indicate that water may have been present).
Underneath Curiosity's "forehead" are two types of cameras. There are two NavCams, which help provide engineers with a clear view by which to navigate Mars' sometimes rocky terrain. Then there are also two more ChemCam "eyes" -- the right camera has a telephoto lens while the left camera contains a medium-angle lens. When images from both are overlapped, they form a powerful 3D representation of Mars. These "eyes" are also capable of capturing high-definition video for analysis back on Earth
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
REMS: The Red Planet seems to be the most popular next step for human exploration in space. Scientists certainly want to know what kind of weather humans would face if we were able to get to Mars one day, which is why Curiosity has a built in weather station called the "Rover Environmental Monitoring Station" or "REMS" for short. Two bolt-shaped "booms" located in the "neck" of the rover are able to monitor daily and seasonal weather changes, as well as wind speed and direction, humidity, and air pressure, among other things
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
'Legs' and wheels: When Curiosity was designed, NASA engineers needed to ensure that its "legs" would be able to withstand the dramatic impact of landing on its wheels, before navigating the planet's rocky, sand surface. To that end, they made it a resilient rover with six titanium tube "legs" and wheels made of aluminum and curved titanium springs for bouncy support. Each wheel has its own motor and measures 20 inches in diameter, meaning Curiosity is more than capable of crossing a rugged landscape. It also has four-wheel steering so it can swerve and is capable of digging trenches to investigate below the surface.
Due to its powerful mobility system, the rover is capable of a top speed of four centimeters per second on flat ground and can travel up to 12 miles (20 kilometers) during "its prime mission."
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
'Body': Possibly the most important part of Curiosity is the rover's "body." It needs to be shielded in a protective case to protect its computer parts, electronic equipment and hard drives from the Martian environment. Its power system, located at the back of the rover, is higher off the ground so as to avoid collisions with rocky terrain. Meanwhile, it's not just rocks and sand that scientists need to keep out of Curiosity's circuitry. Mars' average temperature is significantly colder than here on Earth -- around minus 80 ͒ F (minus 60 ͒ C) -- so the body is designed to use the excess heat from operating the power system to keep its avionics and interior equipment functional.
The rover also has a type of "digestive system," which takes the soil it scoops up using its "hand" turret, grinds the sample into a fine powder, and pours it into a funnel on the "back" of its "body." It then analyzes what it has just "digested" in the hope of identifying signs of organic material or of minerals that could be found in water. One of the biggest tasks for Curiosity continues to be to determine if Mars could have once been a habitat for microbes.
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
'Arm' and 'hand': Curiosity has a seven-foot robotic arm that is similar to a human arm -- it has shoulder, elbow and wrist joints-- meaning Curiosity is pretty flexible, with five degrees of movement, allowing scientists to maneuver the robot's instruments with precision. Not only that but the rover's pretty strong too. Its "hand" -- where much of the surface analysis equipment lives -- weighs a hefty 73 pounds (33 kilograms). At the end of its robotic arm is Curiosity's "hand," or turret, which has several functionalities including a soil scoop, a close-up camera and equipment designed to detect "habitable conditions for microbial life." One tool examines whether anything it picks up could have come into contact with water, while another piece of equipment evaluates the presence of carbon-based compounds, which could signify potential life.
Take a walk on Mars with Curiosity —
UHF Antenna: With an average distance between the Earth and Mars of around 225 million kilometers, it's not like Curiosity can just nip back home to drop off all the measurements and samples it has taken. So how do we get any information back on Earth? The answer: Curiosity's "big mouth." Also known as its radio antenna, this is where the rover transmits its large data sets to the planet's orbiters. These orbiters are in the Earth's field of vision more often and can therefore relay the information back to Earth faster than if it was sent directly from Curiosity.
