first test drive on mars
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

NASA's Curiosity rover

First test drive on Mars

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today First test drive on Mars

Mars rover Curiosity shows some of the Red Planet's surface
California - Arabstoday

Mars rover Curiosity shows some of the Red Planet's surface California - Arabstoday A little more than two weeks after its arrival on Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover will on Wednesday make its first "test drive" before setting off on its Red Planet mission, the US space agency said. The $2.5 billion rover, which landed on Mars on August 6, has performed a battery of tests and appears ready to embark on its two-year mission to explore the Red Planet in the hunt for signs of life, NASA said Tuesday. On Monday, NASA "did the wheel steering test", said the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission manager, Mike Watkins, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. The size of a small car, the one-ton rover is equipped with six wheels, four of which can pivot. A series of photos posted to the NASA website show the wheels are fully functioning and ready to roll. "We'll go for our first test drive tomorrow," Watkins told reporters on a teleconference. "We'll drive about three meters forward, and then turn, and then drive back a little less than that... We don't back up right to the same location that we are in right now." If the test, set to last "about half an hour, a little less", is a success, Curiosity will leave its landing spot in three or four days, Watkins said. "We have a couple more activities to complete before we start driving," he said. Curiosity -- the largest rover ever sent to Mars -- hopes to conquer Mount Sharp as part of its two-year mission to explore the planet and analyze sediment layers that are up to a billion years old. It will first head in the direction of Glenelg, a spot in Gale Crater less than 500 meters (yards) away from its current position. The site contains three different kinds of terrain that NASA scientists aim to explore. The rover is expected to adopt a moderate pace of "10, 20, 30 meters a day for a while" but will eventually reach a pace of "over 100 meters a day", Watkins said. NASA on Tuesday also announced its first real setback of the Curiosity mission -- one of two sensors to measure wind speed has been damaged, probably during landing, and cannot be repaired. One of the scientists responsible for the rover's weather station, Ashwin Vasavada, said the damage is "a little disappointing", but not "dire", as the other sensor is "completely operational". "The only thing is that there will be a small ambiguity if the wind were coming directly from behind" the sensor, Vasavada added. Scientists do not expect Curiosity to find aliens or living creatures but they hope to use it to analyze soil and rocks for signs the building blocks of life are present and may have supported life in the past. The project also aims to study the Martian environment to prepare for a possible human mission there in the coming years. US President Barack Obama has vowed to send humans to the planet by 2030.

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

first test drive on mars first test drive on mars

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

first test drive on mars first test drive on mars

 



GMT 21:16 2016 Monday ,27 June

Zaki Badr discusses cleaning problem in Giza

GMT 21:46 2017 Saturday ,14 January

Turkey arrests 60 businessmen for alleged Gulen ties

GMT 22:38 2017 Friday ,24 March

Abbas meets with Merkel in Berlin

GMT 09:02 2017 Monday ,27 March

Tunisian Premier Concludes Visit to Sudan

GMT 15:54 2017 Friday ,01 September

Attorney General Directs Prosecutors to inspect Prison

GMT 09:22 2017 Sunday ,31 December

HM King condoles with Afghanistan President

GMT 10:12 2016 Wednesday ,06 April

Strong dollar, mild weather shrink H&M profits

GMT 17:03 2016 Saturday ,24 December

7 police killed in attacks in Afghansitan

GMT 13:51 2017 Friday ,17 March

Israel denies Syria shot down a warplane

GMT 04:08 2017 Thursday ,05 January

Carbon tax can fund clean energy transition

GMT 19:27 2016 Wednesday ,14 September

Alstom to go ahead with plans to shut down Belfort plant
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday