What the Curiosity rover discovered on the red planet

The study of Mars at the moment is conducted in the most careful way. The so-called Red Planet is the most accessible for study. Unlike Venus, Mars has a more friendly climate and environment. His research using the Curiosity rover is the third attempt by Americans to reveal the secret of the fourth planet.

The Curiosity rover is a rover developed at the US space research center NASA. It is a whole robotic complex. The rover is capable of overcoming long distances, equipped with a "hand" for selecting soil or other objects for analysis. He also has a laser installation for the spectrographic analysis of the Red Planet breed.

In the arsenal of the rover, there are ten research instruments for conducting various chemical analyzes. Its weight is 900 kg, length - 3 m. The rover is capable of speeding up to 12.5 km / h. However, for this technique speed is measured more practical in centimeters per second: then the Curiosity rover develops a speed of 3.5 cm / s. Each of its six wheels is equipped with its own engine. Independent steering is equipped not only the front drive wheels, but also the rear pair, which allows the rover to easily overcome the Martian spaces. The main difference between the rover and previous models, such as Mars rover Spirit and his twin brother, Opportunity, is in the power source. If the early rovers were powered by solar panels, the Curiosity rover has a nuclear power source that will allow it to carry out the assigned tasks within one Martian year.

During the work the rover has spent a lot of researches. Their results prove that in ancient times Mars was suitable for life. In the earth and rocks of the planet, substances such as sulfur, oxygen, nitrogen and other chemical elements necessary for life were discovered.

The Curiosity rover conducts research along a possible channel of the ancient river, or it was a periodically filling lake. Its main difference from other places is that it was not subject to severe oxidation, nor was it too salty. That is, in this area, there were all the necessary conditions for the emergence of protozoan microorganisms, capable of giving life development on the planet. The fact that the selected samples are more than 20% of clay, indicates that there was interaction of water and rocks. Calcium sulphate is also present in the soil , which indicates its neutrality.

The rover found that the chemicals are only partially oxidized. On Earth this would lead to the rapid development of bacteria. The fact that the study area has a low-oxidized areas, it became known after the start of work on surface drilling rover. Soils here, unlike the rest of the planet, had a gray tint, not red.

The main purpose of the rover is Mount Sharpe in the central mound of the Gale crater, but the path will begin after a careful study of Yellowknife Bay, where the Curiosity rover is currently conducting research, after which it will move toward the crater.

The rover is controlled from the Earth. This is very difficult: a single mistake can lead to the destruction of the rover or to the fact that it will just get stuck on the dune, like its predecessor Spirit.