The Rover on Mars.
Have you ever wondered how scientists know so much about the planet Mars? They have what are called rovers. Rovers are robots that move on a surface of an object in space. To build and make sure a rover functions like a robot, a lot of technology is used. The three rovers up in space are Opportunity, Spirit, who are twins, and then the most recent one Curiosity. The rover Curiosity is sending us information that is very useful to us. This is the rover that I will be informing you on today.
What does the Curiosity Rover look like?
The Curiosity Rover is much bigger than the Opportunity and Spirit rovers. It is sort of similar to parts a human has such as eyes, body, arms, legs, and a brain. The brain of the rover is the most important part, because just like a human, the brain is the main part it needs in order to function correctly. To compare it to an object here on earth, it is as big as a small SUV.
What is the job of the Curiosity Rover and what does it do?
The main job of the Curiosity Rover is to see if there have been any forms of life in the past on Mars and if it able to sustain life on its planet. Since the rover isn't one that travels fast, it only travels a distance of about 100 meters a day. It takes pictures and sends them back to the scientists at NASA. With those pictures, scientists are able to research Mars even further. It allows NASA to get more information to answer their question "Is there really life on Mars?" With one of it's arms, the rover is able to pick up samples of rocks and is able to dissolve them inside of itself. It will then send back information on how the soil has formed.
What has been some of the things Curiosity has discovered?
Curiosity was able to send back information to NASA that there may be some habitable forms of life, this happened back in the year 2013. There is something that scientists need to make sure that there can be some habitable forms of life, which are organics. Organics are sort of building blocks for life, but they can also be caused by chemical reactions. Curiosity also has a tool that allows it to measure the temperature and climate on Mars. This tool is called the Radiation Assessment Detector.
What is the Radiation Assessment Detector?
The Radiation Assessment Detector allows the scientists to retrieve information from the rover of the climate on planet Mars. Usually every 15 minutes the climate is radiated from the ground and atmosphere. This helps us see if NASA is able to send a group of Astronauts to Mars. In 2013, NASA was able to look into the amount of radiation that Curiosity had detected. The research they performed gave them information, which allows them to send astronauts to Mars.
As you can see Curiosity is able to do many things with the technology it has installed. It is able to gas up evidence inside of its body, send back information to NASA here on Earth, and measure the climate on Mars. This rover is something that can change human race drastically. If life can be sustained on Mars, then a crew of people are going to be trained to spend the rest of their lives there.
References:
1) Brown, W. (2012,
July). Is Exploring Mars Worth the Investment. Retrieved from http://phys.org/news/2012-07-exploring-mars-worth-investment.html2) Harmon, A (2014). Curiosity: Mission to Mars. Curiosity Mission to Mars (ELL), 1.
3) Howell, E. (n.d.). In Space.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016, from http://www.space.com/17963-mars-curiosity.html
4) [Image of architecture]. USA; NASA. Retrieved from http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/instruments/radiationdetectors/rad/
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