CURIOSITY ROVER
- April 11, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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CURIOSITY ROVER
Subject: Science & tech
Context: Using observations made by ChemCam instrument on Curiosity rover at the base of Mount Sharp on Mars, a French–US team of scientists has deduced that water did not disappear from Mars at one go, but that it alternated between dry and wet conditions before drying up completely 3 billion years ago.
Concept:
- Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission.
- The Curiosity is the largest and most capable rover ever sent to Mars. It landed on Mars in August, 2012.
- The purpose of the mission is to find chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars.
- Curiosity’s large size allows it to carry an advanced kit of 10 science instruments.
- It has tools including 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small pinpoint spots of rocks at a distance, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples. It hunts for special rocks that formed in water and/or have signs of organics.
Gale Crater
- Gale Crater formed when a meteor hit Mars in its early history, about 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago.
- The meteor impact punched a hole in the terrain. The explosion ejected rocks and soil that landed around the crater.
- Scientists chose Gale Crater as the landing site for Curiosity because it has many signs that water was present over its history.