PIA13384: NASA's Next Mars Rover on a Test Drive


NASA’s Next Mars Rover on a Test Drive

Caption:

The suspension system on NASA Mars rover Curiosity easily accommodates rolling over a ramp in this Sept. 10, 2010, test drive inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The rover, like its smaller predecessors already on Mars, uses a rocker bogie suspension system to drive over uneven ground.

The Spacecraft Assembly Facility at JPL has been the birthplace of many interplanetary spacecraft, including NASA's two Voyagers, Galileo, Cassini and the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

Background Info:

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project will launch Curiosity in late 2011 for arrival at Mars in August 2012. The mission will study whether an intriguing area of Mars has offered environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving evidence of whether life existed there.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Cassini-Huygens, Mars Exploration Rover (MER), Voyager
Instrument Host Curiosity Rover Opportunity (MER-B), Spirit (MER-A)
Host Type Rover Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Color
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2010-09-13
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13384
Identifier PIA13384