![]() Both rovers hit the Mars atmosphere at tremendous speeds, deployed a supersonic parachute after friction slowed them down enough, and were finally lowered gently to the red dirt on cables by a rocket-powered "sky crane."īut Perseverance had some EDL upgrades that Curiosity did not enjoy. Perseverance also used the same entry, descent and landing (EDL) strategy as Curiosity. "These will gather science data in ways that weren't possible before." Perseverance's seven instruments "build on the success of MSL, which was a proving ground for new technology," said George Tahu, NASA's Perseverance program executive. Curiosity's main task involves assessing the habitability of ancient Mars, whereas Perseverance will hunt for evidence of ancient Martians. But those instruments are quite different than the gear aboard Curiosity, because the two rovers have divergent goals. ![]() Like Curiosity, Perseverance has a rectangular body, six wheels, a robotic arm, a drill for sampling rocks, cameras and scientific instruments. (1,025 kilograms), Perseverance weighs less than a compact car. Perseverance is about 10 feet long (not including its robotic arm), 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall (about 3 meters long, 2.7 meters wide and 2.2 meters tall). Roughly 85% of Perseverance's mass is based on Curiosity "heritage hardware," saving NASA time and money and reducing risk considerably, agency officials have said. “The biggest changes will help keep Curiosity rolling more efficiently for years to come,” JPL said.Like Curiosity, the Perseverance rover was built by engineers and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Other changes include enhancements to the way Curiosity sends messages to JPL and the simplification of computer code that has been altered by numerous patches since Curiosity over the years. The recent software update will also lead to less wear and tear on the rover’s aluminum wheels, improve the efficiency of Curiosity’s Earth-based human drivers, and pave the way for easier operation of Curiosity’s robotic arm. It’s worth noting that Curiosity’s movement across the Martian surface will still be something of a crawl as its top speed is a little less than 1 mph, considerably slower than the average 3 mph speed that humans walk at. And even though we’re almost 11 years old, we’re still implementing new ideas to use more of our available energy for science activities.” “Spending less time idling between drive segments also means we use less energy each day. ![]() “This won’t let Curiosity drive as quickly as Perseverance, but instead of stopping for a full minute after a drive segment, we’re stopping for just a moment or two,” JPL’s Jonathan Denison explained in an online post. While Curiosity will still need to halt after each segment, the new software will enable the rover to process the imagery much faster than before, helping to speed up its journey time. This is in contrast with Perseverance, which has a dedicated computer that allows it to snap imagery and process it on the move. NASA’s Mars rover has just completed a historic taskĬuriosity is designed to drive in segments, stopping after each one to assess captured imagery of the nearby terrain so that it can plan a safe route forward. Mars Curiosity rover finds evidence of water where it was expected to be dry Watch a replica of NASA’s Mars helicopter take flight on Earth
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