GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CURIOSITY ROVER
The Curiosity rover is capable of discovering many different things while on Mars. With all of its advanced technology, Curiosity is trying to answer two main questions that have been around for many years. Did life ever exist on Mars? Can Mars sustain life in the future? The answers to these questions are the main goals for this rover. To accomplish these goals, Curiosity has eight objectives to complete during its two year investigation. These objectives include:
· Determining the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds
· Finding the chemical building blocks of life, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur
· Finding features that may represent previous biological processes
· Investigating the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the rocks on the surface of Mars
· Analyzing the processes that created and changed the rocks and soils
· Analyzing the evolution of the Martian atmosphere
· Investigating the current state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide
· Characterizing the broad spectrum of surface radiation (galactic, cosmic, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons)
The Curiosity has all the tools necessary to complete the previous goals and more. Now, it is just a matter of time until all of these are completed.
· Determining the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds
· Finding the chemical building blocks of life, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur
· Finding features that may represent previous biological processes
· Investigating the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the rocks on the surface of Mars
· Analyzing the processes that created and changed the rocks and soils
· Analyzing the evolution of the Martian atmosphere
· Investigating the current state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide
· Characterizing the broad spectrum of surface radiation (galactic, cosmic, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons)
The Curiosity has all the tools necessary to complete the previous goals and more. Now, it is just a matter of time until all of these are completed.