MARS EXPLORATION AND THE CURIOSITY ROVER
Posted by Oscar Rosales
on Sep 13, 2015
Planetary member and UCLA shirt attired, Jay Wilber introduced, Jordan Evans, mechanical systems division manager for NASA/JPL. This was a joint meeting with the Bellflower Rotary Club. Jordan started by showing a video simulation of how this Rover got up there in the first place. It only took 7 or 8 years to get to Mars but then it had to land.
By using the Sky Crane Parachute drop and dribble method the Rover bounced along for a quarter of a mile on large beach balls until it finally came to a stop in a small excavation. With only 3/8 gravity that didn’t seem far enough. You could hear a pin drop at NASA control and Progress Park until it hatched and everyone went wild.
It’s as cold as -160˚ F so two days before launch a 10 oz Plutonium parcel was loaded to keep Rover warm. This job is done by an Army PFC. A 140 lb sound proof blanket was used to wrap the Rover because high noise levels can put the rover out of business. The detail is extraordinary. During the video I counted more than 20 white suited scientists roaming all over the Rover. Jordan said NASA was concerned with the dust on Mars covering the solar panels and negating the flow of power to Rover. Thankfully the wind generated dust devils or a “Robotic Geologist” as it is called, which kept the panels clean.
The 6 wheel Rover being considerably larger than Spirit or Opportunity and contains 300 kilos (2.2 X = Lbs) of instruments. The laser can scan a large area of rock, compute the best location of the area then concentrate on that area for probing. The camera is really super with a zoom lens that can photograph from Macro to Normal magnification. The wheel on Curiosity spells out JPL in Morse code. It was a clever way for JPL to get their name on the vehicle.
Jay Wilbur ended the presentation by thanking Jordan for coming down and then stated, “I’m proud to be an American!” Thank you Jay and NASA for such an engaging presentation.
In the picture with Dean and Jordan is the Bellflower Rotary President Connie Hui. For more information on The Curiosity Rover please follow this link: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ More Photos of the Mars Explorer, Curiosity Rover:
