CURIOSITY: Big Mars Rover for Big Mars Science! Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars Rover Curiosity launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity launched on an Atlas V-541, the largest rocket for launching to a planet. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech It is propelled toward Mars by a Centaur upper stage.

Curiosity is headed to Gale Crater. NASA/JPL-Caltech You can see where other Mars landers and rovers have successfully landed on Mars too.

Gale Crater is about 96 miles wide. It has many rock layers for Curiosity to explore, from canyons to channels, all in one place! NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity is targeted to land within the yellow ellipse, on flat terrain near Gale’s central mound. NASAJPL-Caltech/ASU/UA Central Mound

Curiosity is twice the size of Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity and five times as heavy. NASA/JPL-Caltech

To fit all these tools on the rover, the team had to supersize everything, from the capsule that holds the rover, to the parachute that slows it down before landing. NASA/JPL-Caltech

To get to Mars, Curiosity will travel safely tucked inside a protective shell. NASAJPL-Caltech Heat Shield Back Shell Descent Stage Rover Cruise Stage

The trip will take over eight months. The rover will travel about 354 million miles (570 million kilometers). Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASAJPL-Caltech Backshell Separation Powered Descent Sky Crane Flyaway Heatshield Separation Peak Heating Hypersonic Aero- maneuvering Entry Interface Peak Deceleration Parachute Deploy Cruise Stage Separation CBMD Separation Radar Data Collection 11 Touchdown Mobility Deploy Rover Separation Flyaway Sky Crane Detail Time: Entry – 10 min Time: Entry – ~8 min Altitude: ~125 km Velocity: ~5,900 m/s Time: Entry + 0 s Altitude: ~11 km Velocity: ~405 m/s Time: Entry + ~265 s Altitude: ~8 km Velocity: ~125 m/s Time: Entry + ~289 s Altitude: ~1.6 km Velocity: ~80 m/s Time: Entry + ~375 s Altitude: 0 m Velocity: ~0.75 m/s Time: Entry + ~427 s Altitude: ~20 m Velocity: ~0.75 m/s Time: Entry + ~413 s This chart shows the entry, descent and landing sequence

Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech The spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere 78 miles above the planet. The rover will take approximately seven minutes to reach the ground.

Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech This spacecraft can steer its way through the turbulent atmosphere so it can land more accurately.

The friction of the atmosphere slows the spacecraft from 13,000 mph to about 900 mph. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech The heat shield may reach 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit!

A supersonic parachute slows the spacecraft from about 900 mph to 180 mph, the speed of a Formula One race car. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

While slowing down using the parachute, the heat shield is popped off, exposing the rover to the Martian atmosphere. The rover’s descent camera begins taking a movie of the remaining five-mile flight to the ground. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

The engines on the descent stage roar to life and fly the rover down the last mile to the surface. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech As it descends, the rover uses radar to measure its speed and altitude, which it uses to land safely.

The descent stage lowers the rover on three nylon ropes called bridle. Coiled electronics and communications cables also unspool from the descent stage. This configuration is known as the “Sky Crane.” Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

By the time Curiosity touches down, the rover is going about two miles per hour. Less than seven minutes before, it was traveling at 13,000 miles per hour! Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

When the sky crane “senses” that Curiosity has touched down, the cables are cut. The sky crane flies a safe distance away from the rover before crash-landing. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the first time, a Mars rover will land with wheels touching down first, instead of airbags. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity will start exploring Mars after raising its “head” and doing a “self-check” to make sure all systems are go. Artist’s Concept. NASA/JPL-Caltech Driving could take several days to a few weeks after landing.

Curiosity is expected to work for one Martian year, or about two Earth years. Artist’s Concept. NASAJ/PL-Caltech Don’t miss the adventure on Mars, beginning August 2012!

Follow Curiosity! Mission Website: mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl Be A Martian! beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov