Planning for "Curiosity" on Mars — NASA scientist John Grunsfeld gives a preview of the Mars Curiosity mission, from the landing’s ‘seven minutes of terror’ to the plans for the exploration ahead.
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Big Picture Science
A Martian Curiosity — We dig the Red Planet! And so does Curiosity. After a successful landing, and a round of high-fives at NASA, the latest rover to land on Mars is on the move, shovel in mechanical hand.
Discover how the Mars Science Laboratory will hunt for the building blocks of life, and just what the heck a lipid is. Plus, how to distinguish Martians from Earthlings, and the tricks Mars has played on us in the past (canals, anyone?).
Also, want to visit Mars firsthand? We can point you to the sign-up sheet for a manned mission. The catch: the ticket is one-way. -
BBC: Discovery
NASA’s Curiosity Rover lands on Mars — After the most daring and complex landing of a robot on another planet, the search for evidence of life on Mars enters a new era. NASA’s Curiosity rover is now sitting inside Gale Crater, a vast depression close to the Martian equator. The one tonne machine is the most sophisticated science robot ever placed on another world. Over the coming years, Curiosity will climb a mountain at the crater’s heart, gathering evidence on one of science’s greatest questions – was there ever life on Mars? The $2.5 billion project will discover whether Mars once had conditions suitable for the evolution and survival of life. BBC Space specialist Jonathan Amos talks to mission scientists about where Curiosity is going and what it will do as it trundles up Mars’ Mount Sharp.
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Science Friday Audio Podcast
With ‘Terror’ in the Past, Mars Scientists Plan for Exploration Ahead — Mars Science Laboratory project scientist John Grotzinger describes plans for the Curiosity rover, now in Gale Crater on Mars.