The US space agency has announced in Washington on 23 July NASA's next Mars rover will land at the foot of a mountain inside the planet's Gale crater.
John P. Grotzinger, the project scientist said in Washington, The thing about this mountain is it’s not a tall spire,it’s a broad, low, moundlike shape. What it means is we can drive up it with a rover. So this might be the tallest mountain anywhere in the solar system that we could actually climb with a rover.
The car-sized Mars Science Laboratory or Curiosity is scheduled to be launched later this year and land in August 2012.
The target crater spans 154 km in diameter and holds a mountain rising from the crater floor. The crater is named after Australian astronomer Walter F. Gale.
Jim Green, director for the Planetary Science Division at the NASA headquarters in Washington said,Scientists identified Gale as their top choice to pursue the ambitious goals of this new rover mission
As the rover climbs upward during its two-year mission, it will pass different geological layers, much like those at the Grand Canyon.
The Mars Science Laboratory was originally scheduled for launching two years ago, but it could not meet that target because of technical problems. NASA then had to wait until the orbital positions of Mars and Earth lined up again
The rover and other spacecraft components are being assembled and undergoing final testing. The mission is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida between Nov 25 and Dec 18.
The car-sized Mars Science Laboratory or Curiosity is scheduled to be launched later this year and land in August 2012.
The target crater spans 154 km in diameter and holds a mountain rising from the crater floor. The crater is named after Australian astronomer Walter F. Gale.
Jim Green, director for the Planetary Science Division at the NASA headquarters in Washington said,Scientists identified Gale as their top choice to pursue the ambitious goals of this new rover mission
As the rover climbs upward during its two-year mission, it will pass different geological layers, much like those at the Grand Canyon.
The Mars Science Laboratory was originally scheduled for launching two years ago, but it could not meet that target because of technical problems. NASA then had to wait until the orbital positions of Mars and Earth lined up again
The rover and other spacecraft components are being assembled and undergoing final testing. The mission is targeted to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida between Nov 25 and Dec 18.
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