The Mission
The Mars Science Laboratory mission is scheduled to launch in the fall of 2011. This is part of a long term effort of robotic exploration of Mars. This specific mission is designed to determine whether Mars is or ever was an environment capable of supporting microbial life. In order to accomplish this, the rover will be equipped with the largest and most advanced technology ever sent to Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory will be the first rover to travel 5 to 20 kilometers from its landing site. It will be investigating dozens of samples that will be scooped from the soil as well as drilled from rock. Through the formation, structure, and chemical composition of the soil and rocks, we will be able to determine the history of the planet.
4 Goals of the Mission:
1. Determine whether life ever arose on Mars or could live in the future
2. Characterize the climate of Mars
3. Characterize the geology of Mars
4. Prepare for Human Exploration
The Mission Objectives:
1.
Determine
the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds
2.
Inventory the chemical building blocks
of life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur)
3.
Identify features that may represent
the effects of biological processes
4. Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the Martian surface and near-surface geological materials.
5. Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils
6. Assess long-timescale atmospheric evolution processes
7. Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide.
8. Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons.