Curiosity
As the missions on Mars become more complicated so do the rovers themselves! While the Sojourner rover, the first to go to Mars was only 23 pounds, the Curiosity rover weighs almost 2,000 lbs! Curiosity continued the quest to find evidence of life supporting environments on Mars.
When was Curiosity launched?
Curiosity was launched on November 26, 2011 and landed on Mars on August 5, 2012. Unlike Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity, Curiosity is still actively exploring the surface of Mars! So far, Curiosity has traveled over 23 km (roughly 14 miles) and is on track to beat Opportunity's record.
What was Curiosity's mission?
The goal of Curiosity's mission is to find evidence to answer the question, "Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes?" Curiosity builds off of the data found by earlier rovers, and uses new scientific tools to look at rock, soil, and air samples for chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars.
What is special about Curiosity's time on Mars?
Curiosity is much larger than past Mars rovers; it is about the size of a small SUV! Because it is so large, it is able to carry 10 advanced scientific instruments, including 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small rocks, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples. Curiosity is known as the Mars Science Laboratory because of all the scientific instruments it carries.
So far, Curiosity has:
found evidence of liquid water in Mars ancient past
found evidence of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous and carbon, indicating that Mars had the right chemistry to support living microbes
found organic carbon on Mars, which is one of the building blocks for life
found present and active methane in the atmosphere which could be produced either by living organisms or by chemical reactions between rock and water
determined that Mars had a thicker atmosphere and more water in its past.
Curiosity has also demonstrated new technological abilities such as the ability to land a very large, very heavy rover very accurately.
The "strata," or layers or rock at the bottom of this picture dip toward the base of a Martian mountain called Mount Sharp. This indicates that ancient water flowed towards a basin that existed there before the mountain formed. How might this water have affected the rocks here?
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The sandstone "steps" seen on the right and top of this image are the result of differing degrees of erosion of sandstone layers. Steeper "steps" result from more resistant sandstone, and the flatter sections result from less resistant sandstone. Can you think of an equivalent process on Earth?
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The white "veins" seen in the gray rock are formed when water flows through cracks in the rock leaving behind minerals. These minerals eventually fill up the crack, leaving a vein behind. What is this process similar to? Can you think of an example on Earth?
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
How do these images help us learn about Mars?
As Curiosity looks for evidence of life-sustaining water and chemical structures on Mars, images of the planet's terrain give scientists extra clues. For example, pictures of strata or rock veins offer evidence of the existence of water in the past. Images like these can also help scientists determine where they should look next; for example unusual rock formations or deep craters might hold chemical or mineral clues to the planet's past. Studying the way layers of rocks and soil have eroded gain provide answers about what force create the erosion: wind or water.
What do these images tell us about the terrain on Mars?
These images show how the ancient environment of Mars affects the terrain we see today. Ancient rain affected rock and mineral formation as well as erosion. Wind eroded uneven layers of sandstone and modified the terrain. Although water no longer exists on Mars, how do you think the wind will keep shaping its surface?