Watch Cool Video of a Mars Rover
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- 1/17/2012 |
- 10:00 am
In late November, NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory launched Curiosity, a next-generation rover that is traveling all the way to Mars on a mission to learn if that neighboring planet is, or ever was, a habitable planet.
Curiosity will start by traversing tens of millions of miles across our solar system, which is no small task in itself. Once there, it will roam around the red planet, studying and collecting rocks and soil in order to detect the chemical building blocks of life. It's an important step in what is hoped to lead to long-term colonization of Mars someday.
There are a series of cool videos on the JPL site, including this animation depicting Curiosity's journey, landing (check out the parachute and the reverse thrusters!) and eventual exploration. We usually embed videos right here on our own site, but in this case, you'll have to follow the link -- no embedding allowed, apparently.
Once you finish that video, there are many others to choose from in a drop-down menu. Among our favorites: one on how you build and power a Mars rover, another on the challenges of selecting a good landing site, and one that answers the question, Is Mars Really Red?
Enjoy!
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