Mars Science Laboratory: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 08:15, 6 August 2012

Revision as of 08:18, 6 August 2012

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== Landing site ==

[[File:First picture sent by the Mars Curiosity rover.jpg|thumb|right|The first picture taken by Curiosity ontransmitted Mars,its transmittedfirst homepicture only minutes after landing on Mars. Curiosity's wheel can be seen on the Martian soil.]]

[[File:658668main_pia15685-full.jpg|thumb|right|Planned landing ellipses on [[Aeolis Palus]] within [[Gale Crater]]<ref name="Gale Crater3">{{cite news |last1=Amos |first1=Jonathan |title=Mars rover aims for deep crater |date=July 22, 2011 |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14249524 |work=BBC News |accessdate =July 22, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=ellipse/> - North is down]]

[[Gale Crater]] is the MSL landing site.<ref name="Gale Crater"/><ref name="Gale Crater2"/><ref name="Gale Crater3"/> Within Gale Crater is a mountain, named [[Aeolis Mons]] (i.e. "[[Mount Sharp (Mars)|Mount Sharp]]"),<ref name="NASA-20120327">{{cite web |author=NASA Staff|title='Mount Sharp' on Mars Compared to Three Big Mountains on Earth|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia15292-Fig2.html|date=March 27, 2012 |publisher=[[NASA]] |accessdate=March 31, 2012}}</ref><ref name="NASA-20120328" /><ref name="Space-20120329" /> of layered rocks, rising about {{convert|5.5|km|ft|abbr=on}} above the crater floor, that ''Curiosity'' will investigate. The landing site is a smooth region called [[Aeolis Palus]] inside the crater in front of the mountain. The landing site is elliptical, {{convert|20|by|7|km|abbr=on}}.<ref name=ellipse/> Gale Crater's diameter is {{convert|154|km|abbr=on}}.