8/6/2019 Prepare for landing
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QMI AGENCY
Prepare for landingNASA is close to choosing a landing site for
its Mars Science Laboratory. The $2.5 billion Curiosity rover is
beingreadied for a two-year mission to the red planet, where it
will look for evidence of past or present microbial life
Sources: NASA; Graphic News
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A
eolisMensae
Planitia
Planitia
Eddie
Eddie
ElysiumMons
ElysiumMons
Elysium
Elysium
TartarusMontes
TartarusMontes
Planitia
PlanitiaHecatusTholus
HecatusTholus
Arcadia
Arcadia
Mie
Mie
Albor Tholus
Albor Tholus
Herschel
Herschel
Planum
Planum
Kepler
Kepler
Hesperia
Hesperia
LibyaMontes
LibyaMontes
IsidisPlanitia
IsidisPlanitia
Nili
Nili
Vastitas Borealis
Olympia
Planitia
OlympiaPlanitia
Lomonosov
Chasma Boreale
Chasma Boreale
Planum Boreum
Planum Boreum
Acidalia
Planitia
Acidalia
Planitia
Chryse
Planitia
Chryse
Planitia
Ares
Vallis
Ares
Vallis
Henry
Henry
Pasteur
Pasteur
Terra
Sabaea
Terra
Sabaea
Syrtis
Major
Syrtis
Major
Schroeter
Schroeter
Huygens
Huygens
Schiaparelli
Schiaparelli
Bakhuysen
Bakhuysen
Hellespontus
Hellespontus
Montes
Montes Hellas
Planitia
Hellas
Planitia
Secchi
Secchi
OenotriaScopulus
OenotriaScopulus
Tyrrhena
Terra
Tyrrhena
Terra
Promethei
Terra
Promethei
Terra
Terra
Cimmeria
Terra
Cimmeria
Noachis
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Terra Meridani
Arabia
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Arabia
Terra
Kunowsky
Vastitas Borealis
Vastitas Borealis
Milankovic
Milankovic
AcheronFossae
AcheronFossae
AscraeusMons
AscraeusMons
OlympusMons
OlympusMons
UraniusTholus
UraniusTholus Uranius
Patera
UraniusPatera
Tempe
Terra
Tempe
Terra
KaseiValles
KaseiValles
LunaePlanum
LunaePlanum
ShalbatanaVallis
ShalbatanaVallis
GangesChasma
GangesChasma
Margaritifer
Terra
Margaritifer
Terra
Xanthe
Xanthe
Terra
Terra
TharsisTholus
TharsisTholus
HebesChasma
HebesChasma
EosChasma
EosChasma
PavonisMons
PavonisMons
Ceraunius
Tholus
CerauniusTholus
LycusSulci
LycusSulci
Amazonis
Amazonis
Planitia
Planitia
Pettit
Pettit
BiblisPatera
BiblisPatera
ArsaiMons
ArsaiMons
TerraSirenum
TerraSirenum
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris
Antoniadi
AntoniadiFossae
FossaeCassini
Cassini
Utopia
Planitia
Utopia
Planitia
NepenthesMensae
NepenthesMensae
MaadimVallis
MaadimVallis
ApollinarisPatera
ApollinarisPatera
150 km-wide Gale crateris frontrunner among
four candidatelanding sites.
Missionlaunch
Curiosity Rover
Nov. 25-Dec. 18, 2011
Arrival: Aug. 2012
Length: At leastone Martian year(equal to 23Earth months).
The newest rover fromNASA is the size of anSUV, dwarfing
theprevious two rovers.
Wheels: 50 cm indiameter, each one isindividually motorized
Top speed:4 cm a second
Navigationcameras
Length:3 m
Height:2.2 m
Turret: Contains magnifying camera,element-identifying
spectrometerand tools for gathering rock samples
Robotic arm:Can extendto 2.3 m
High-gainantenna
Nuclear powered
Olympus Mons:Largest volcano in theTharsis Montes Regionat 625
km in diameter
and 25 km high.
Mercury
Sun
Venus Earth Mars
JupiterSaturn
Uranus
Neptune
Valles Marineris:Vast canyon system at4,000 km long and upto 7
km deep.
Elysium Mons:Largest volcanoin the ElysiumPlanitia region at700
km acrossand 13 km high.
Arsai Mons:Has the largestcaldera on Mars,with a diameter
of 120 km.
Diameter 6,791 km 12,755 km
Length of Year 687 Earth Days 365.25 Days
Length of Day 24 hrs, 37 mins 23 hrs, 56 mins
Gravity 0.375 times Earths 2.66 times Mars
Temperature Average -63 C Average 14 C
Distance from Sun 229 million km 150 million km
Mars vs. Earth
