US space agency NASA celebrated the successful landing of it's Mars rover as the next step in its space exploration programme.
Images from Curiosity of rocks in the Gale Crater Image: NASA |
The rover, named Curiosity, is part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission and NASA's wider Mars Exploration Programme. The entire, unmanned laboratory was launched on November 26 last year, landing safely on the surface of Mars' Gale Crater on the 5th August 2012.
The roving laboratory will collect samples of Martian rock and demonstrate the accuracy and manoeuverability of a heavy roving vehicle on the planet. Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope system which gathers decaying radioactivity from the planet iteslf. The system is set to operate for a full Martian year - 687 Earth days - to allow the NASA team to explore us much as 12 miles away from the original landing site.
Communication with the vehicle, which is controlled remotely from NASA's mission control, comes via the organisation's Deep Space Network of satellite antennas, sited in California, Spain and Australia. With the latest imaging technology on board, Curiosity began sending back stunning colour images from the landing site almost immediately after touchdown.
The mission is the third to place a landing vehicle on the planet. The first, Spirit, touched down in January 2004, while Phoenix explored the planet in 2008. Since 2006, Mars has been monitored by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which been sending a constant stream of images and scientific data back to Earth. NASA's next aim is to launch a return mission which will bring back rock and other samples from the planet.