Curiosity and joy abound as robot lands on Mars

AFTER crossing 352 million miles of space a robot the size of a small car – but with a price tag of £1.6bn – has landed on Mars in one of the most daring and difficult interplanetary operations ever attempted.

The six-wheeled rover Curiosity was lowered to the Martian surface on three nylon tethers suspended from a hovering “sky crane” kept airborne with rockets.

A signal confirming the robot had landed – after a nine-month journey – was received on Earth yesterday at 6.31am UK time. The robot then sent back photographs – with more detailed colour pictures to follow later this week.

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There were scenes of jubilation at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California when the message came through to mission control.

Curiosity can now start its 98-week mission – the length of one Martian year – exploring a Martian crater that billions of years ago may have been filled with water.

The nuclear-powered rover is bristling with sophisticated technology designed to discover if Mars may have supported life.

Roughly the size of a Mini Cooper, Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity which landed on Mars in 2004.

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The robot was just too heavy to have its landing cushioned by bouncing air bags – the method used for the previous rovers.

Instead scientists came up with the dramatic “sky crane” solution.

After entering the Martian atmosphere at 13,200mph, the capsule containing the rover was first slowed by friction and then a supersonic parachute.

Closer to the ground, the descent stage carrying Curiosity was released, firing retro rockets positioned around its rim. Above the landing site in Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, the rover was dropped to the surface on 25ft tethers.

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The purpose of this was to prevent damage from sand and debris kicked up by the rockets.

Finally, the descent stage broke away to crash at a safe distance.

Curiosity’s target was Gale Crater, near the Martian equator, where there is geological evidence of past water.

The rover landed close to Mount Sharp, a 3.4-mile (5.5km) high peak in the centre of the crater with clay deposits around its base.

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Proof that Curiosity was on Mars came in the form of images showing the planet’s rock-strewn surface and one of the rover’s wheels.

The images were relayed to Earth by the orbiting Nasa spacecraft Mars Odyssey.

The landing marks the start of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission during which Curiosity will act as a mobile geologist, gathering and analysing samples from the surface.

The rover has a robot arm fitted with a multi-tool “hand” for scooping up soil and drilling into rock.

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It also carries its own laser gun which can be used to “zap” rocks more than 20ft (6m) away. The laser will vaporise tiny amounts of material that can be analysed to reveal chemical data.

As well as a stereo camera fitted to a mast for panoramic shots, Curiosity has a magnifying imager that can reveal details smaller than the width of a human hair. Samples will be analysed using an on-board laboratory.

Dr John Bridges, from the University of Leicester, one of two British scientists leading teams on the mission, said: “The science community has been given a very valuable chance to move forward our understanding of how Mars has evolved. How long did wet conditions last and were there standing bodies of water on Mars?

“I hope the effective combination in MSL of science objectives and space engineering will point the way towards more exploration of the solar system and technological innovations.”

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Scientists agree that Mars had water on its surface possibly as long as four billion years ago. But precisely where, when and for how long there were lakes or oceans on Mars remains a mystery.

Nothing could live on the radiation-cooked surface of Mars today, it is believed. But some experts do not rule out the possibility of microbial bugs still living below the surface.

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