A Laboratory on Mars

A) AMERICAN MUSEUM NATURAL HISTORY A LABORATORY ON MARS NASA's CURIOSITY ROVER WILL SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF LIFE SOJOURNER Launched DECEMBER 1996 Landed JULY 1997 Later this year, NASA will launch its biggest, most advanced rover yet: the one ton Curiosity, a mobile laboratory with a two-year mission to find out whether Mars has ever supported life. Beginning with Sojourner, the 23-1lb rover sent to Mars in 1997 as part of the Pathfinder mission, Mars Mileage 328 FEET Sojourner returned 550 images and analyzed i5 Martian rocks before Pathfinder's last successful transmission in September 1997 Mars rovers have provided scientists with invaluable information about the Red Planet. Now it's Curlosity's turn. The rover will carry ten scientific instruments, including a laser to vaporize Martian rock samples to reveal their composition, a set of tools to check for organic compounds in samples of Martian soil and atmosphere, and an instrument to detect ice or hydrated minerals underground. SPIRIT Launched JUNE 2003 Landed JANUARY 2004 See a life-sized model of the Curiosity rover in Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration. Mars Mileage 4.8 MILES Spirit returned more than 124.000 images before its last transmission in March 2010 .............. A OPPORTUNITY Launched JULY 2003 Landed JANUARY 2004 Mars Mileage 20.8 MILES AS OF AUGUST 2011 At press time, Opportunity was exploring the rim of the 13.7-mile-wide Mars crater named Endeavour. SAMPLE ANALYSIS AT MARS (SAM) INSTRUMENT This toolkit of three instruiments will analyze Martian atmosohen gases, rocks, and sail for traces of organic compounds. Rocks and soil will be delivered to the CURIOSITY Planned Launch LATE 2011 Planned Landing AuGUST 2012 Mars Mileage ENGINEERED SAMIN powdered samples by Curiosity's robotic arm, then FOR UP TO 660 FEET A DAY Curiosity arrived at NASA's Kennedy Center in June for heated or treated with solvents to pull gases for analysis. testing and final assembly PULL-OUT POSTER