Experts took it out into the Mojave Desert, California

May 12, 2012 06:40 GMT  ·  By
MSL mission team members ran mobility tests on California sand dunes in early May 2012 in preparation for operating the Curiosity rover
   MSL mission team members ran mobility tests on California sand dunes in early May 2012 in preparation for operating the Curiosity rover

With the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity scheduled to reach the surface of Mars by early August, the need to test the exploration robot's systems is becoming increasingly apparent. NASA experts recently took a test version of the machine out into the desert, for a test driver.

Curiosity has a twin here on Earth, an incomplete version of itself that does not feature the same parts or instruments, but which replicates its actions in any other way. By taking it to the Dumont Dunes, in the Mojave Desert, California, NASA experts sought to emulate the actual rover's experience on Mars.

Curiosity will land at the base of Mount Sharp, a tall mountain located in the middle of Gale Crater, on August 5/6. The robot is the largest and the most complex rover ever deployed to another planet. It is about the size of a Mini Cooper, it is powered by a nuclear motor, and weighs nearly 1 ton.

Scientists at the Pasadena, California-based NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who manage the mission, were very curious to learn what to expect from Curiosity. This is why they took the test rover out for a spin recently.

The team says that the test version of the machine weighs about the same as Curiosity will in Mars' lower gravity. This is a very important aspect of the assessments. The actual rover will be used to move up sand dunes and the slopes of Mount Sharp, so drivers need to understand how it will react.

Results obtained during the new test drives will be used by mission planners to plot the safest courses over the dangerous Martian landscape. JPL experts want to avoid the fate of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, which became trapped in a patch of loose soil called Troy, and was subsequently lost.

After MSL lands, NASA will again have two rovers operating on the Red Planet at the same time. MER Opportunity is currently located at the edge of Endeavour Crater, near the Martian Equator. It recently returned to standard operations, after successfully braving its fifth winter on the planet.

While Opportunity is a geology investigations rover, Curiosity's main mission will be to determine whether the areas around Mount Sharp and the bottom of Gale Crater were ever suitable for the development of microbial lifeforms.

In recent years, more and more studies have suggested that life may have developed on our neighboring world, and one of the main science goals for the MSL is to deny or confirm these studies.