This life-sized replica of Curiosity sits in the center of the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) grounds. It is about the size of a car but will only travel at about one-tenth of a mile per hour. "Speed is not a priority," explained Randii Wessen, deputy manager of the Project Formulation Office at JPL.
Randii Wessen, deputy manager of the Project Formulation Office at JPL, points out the MastCam. The system's two cameras can take true color images at 1600-by-1200 pixels and up to 10 fps high-definition video at 720p. One camera has a 34mm focal length and the other has a 100mm focal length. Both have 8GB of flash memory, capable of storing up to 5,500 raw images.
JPL visualization producer Douglas Ellison shows a rubber version of the wheel used on Curiosity. Its circumference is about 1.5 meters and holes in it spell out "JPL" in Morse Code so that as the rover roves, it leaves its address imprinted in the dirt on Mars.
Here are examples of wheels used on three different generations of Mars rovers. (Curiosity's on the left, MER's in the center, and Pathfinder's on the right.) Curiosity's aluminum wheels are as thin as a stack of 10 pieces of paper.
In 2009, Clare Ma won the Mars Science Laboratory naming contest with her "Curiosity" submission. Three years later, Ma reads part of her winning essay
. "Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope."
In-Situ Instrument Laboratory
In the In-Situ Instrument Laboratory (ISIL), there is a working replica of the rover used to shadow its movements.
In-Situ Instrument Laboratory
The only aspect of the replica that is not identical is its power source because, "using a nuclear battery would not be safe here," said Dan Isla, an electrical and software systems engineer at JPL. On Mars, Curiosity will use a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to generate power by converting heat to electricity. It is a more reliable source than solar panels, which can get dusty.
Cruise Mission Control
Mission Control is quiet in the days leading up to the landing, but on Sunday night, scientists and engineers will fill the seats as they wait in noisy anticipation to receive word that Curiosity has entered the atmosphere and, hopefully, landed safely.
Space Flight Operations Facility
The Space Flight Operations Facility is the first place to see incoming data. It tracks all active missions, not just Curiosity.
Surface Mission Control
Shortly after the rover has safely landed, Surface Mission Control will take over operations. Each day, scientists will compile and send a list of tasks to Curiosity. During the mission, the team will work on Martian time, meaning their day will last approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes.
"This is the most complex spacecraft JPL has ever built," said Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist, discussing the caution the scientists will exhibit when beginning exploration. "We are going to take our sweet time learning how to do things on the surface of Mars." It may be a month or two into the mission before the rover begins to take soil samples.
At Mars Yard, this scarecrow rover tests three different driving modes: blind mode, autonomous navigation, and visual odometry. The model is driven using an iPhone app designed by intern Riley Avron, an electrical engineer student at Purdue University.
"Our job starts when the six wheels are on the ground," said Matt Heverly, a mobility systems engineer. "It's on us to know the engineering data and use our intuition to say if we are going to be able to safely go where the scientist wants to go. It's our call to make that decision, which is really, really fun and nerve-racking, and it's just the nature of exploration." Those capabilities are tested on the modifiable terrain here at Mars Yard.
On a Curiosity science panel, Pan Conrad, deputy principle investigator of Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM), talks about the challenges scientists will face after the landing. "The seven minutes of terror may be over but the two years of incredible sleepless nights pouring over data begin, and we can't wait to start," she said.