Mars Rover By Benn Davis

Questions 1-5 1.How much did it cost to build? 2.How many Rovers have been on Mars? 3.What have we learnt from it? 4.How long did it take to build? 5.When was it made?

Questions 6-10 6.Who made it? 7.How long did it take for it to get to Mars? 8.How many models have they made? 9.Has it ever crashed? 10.Who controls it?

How much did it cost to build the Mars Rover? Cost of NASA's Next Mars Rover Hits Nearly $2.5 Billion. Mars rover Curiosity, the centerpiece of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, is coming together for extensive testing prior to its late 2011 launch.

How many Rovers have been on mars? Several rovers have been sent to Mars: Mars 2, Prop-M rover, 1971, Mars 2 landing failed taking Prop-M with it. The Mars 2 and 3 spacecraft from the USSR had identical 4.5 kg Prop-M rovers. They were to move on skis while connected to the landers with cables. Mars 3, Prop-M rover, 1971, lost when Mars 3 lander stopped communicating about 20 seconds after landing. Sojourner rover, Mars Pathfinder, landed successfully on July 4, 1997. Communications were lost on September 27, 1997. Beagle 2, Planetary Undersurface Tool, lost with Beagle 2 on deployment from Mars Express in 2003.[6] A compressed spring mechanism was designed to allow movement across the surface at a rate of 1 cm per 5 seconds and to burrow into the ground and collect a subsurface sample in a cavity in its tip. Spirit (MER-A), Mars Exploration Rover, launched on June 10, 2003 at 13:58:47 EDT and landed successfully on January 4, 2004. Nearly 6 years after the original mission limit, Spirit had covered a total distance of 7.73 km (4.80 mi) but its wheels became trapped in sand. Around January 26, 2010, NASA conceded defeat in its efforts to free the rover and stated that it would now function as a stationary science platform. The last communication received from the rover was on March 22, 2010, and NASA ceased attempts to re-establish communication on May 25, 2011. Opportunity (MER-B), Mars Exploration Rover, launched on July 7, 2003 at 23:18:15 EDT and landed successfully on January 25, 2004. Opportunity surpassed the previous record for longevity of a surface mission to Mars as of May 20, 2010 and surpassed the previous record for distance traveled off-Earth as of July 28, 2014 by covering a total distance of 40.25 km (25.01 mi). Opportunity is still operational and mobile as of September 12, 2016. Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), by NASA, was launched November 26, 2011 at 10:02 EST and landed in the Aeolis Palus plain near Aeolis Mons (informally "Mount Sharp") in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012, 05:31 UTC. Curiosity Rover is still operational as of September 12, 2016.

What have we learnt from it? NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has only been exploring the Red Planet since last August, but the robot has already racked up quite a string of accomplishments. For starters, the rover's dramatic "seven minutes of terror" touchdown successfully demonstrated a new technique that can land big payloads with unprecedented precision, potentially helping pave the way for human outposts on the Red Planet. And then there's the science. Curiosity was tasked with determining if its Gale Crater landing site has ever been capable of supporting microbial life, and the car- size robot managed to answer that question just seven months into a planned two- year surface mission.

How long did it take to build? Each component or (service module) on the rovers are built, manufactured, and assembled in a sterile and sometimes vacuum sealed environment. Some assembly can be done in a matter of days, but even those "partial" assemblies will sit for an entire year (or longer) as other instruments are added for that particular assemblage on the rover. Approximately 3 years.

When was it made? The curiosity rover was created on November 26, 2011 by NASA.

Who made it? NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission (MER) is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the sending of the two rovers—MER-A Spirit and MER-B Opportunity—to explore the Martian surface and geology.

How long did it take for it to get to Mars? 253 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes and 57 seconds. Launched: November 26, 2011 at 10:02 EST (Cape Canaveral) Landed: August 6, 2012 at 05:17:57.3 UTC (Gale Crater, Mars)

How many models have they made? Table of objects Artificial object Nationality Landed Spirit rover (MER-A) United States 2004 Opportunity rover (MER-B) United States 2004 Phoenix Mars Lander United States 2008 Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) United States 2012

Has it ever crashed? Reaching Mars is a hard and unforgiving endeavor, with little room for error. More than two-thirds of the 40-odd missions launched toward Mars have been lost due to failed components, rocket glitches or grievous errors that sent probes crashing into the Martian surface or missing the planet altogether.

Who controls it? There are two ways that Curiosity can navigate the surface of Mars: NASA can transmit a series of specific commands, which the rover then dutifully carries out — or NASA can give Curiosity a target, and then trust the rover to autonomously find its own way there. In both cases, the commands are transmitted to Curiosity via NASA’s Deep Space Network — the worldwide network of big-dish antennae that NASA uses to communicate with spacecraft, and carry out some radio astronomy on the side.

Resources http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/143884-how-nasa-drives-mars-rover- curiosity http://www.space.com/10930-mars-landings-red-planet-exploration.html http://www.rutgersprep.org/kendall/7thgrade/mars_rover/11_av/indexAV. html