![]() ![]() 18, 2011 atop an Atlas V rocket from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch window for MSL extends from Nov. This includes the cruise stage, descent stage and back shell. Upon successful completion of the testing, all components of the MSL spacecraft system will be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center for final integration. Martian lighting conditions are being simulated by a series of powerful lamps. The internal chamber temperature was decreased to minus 130 degrees Celsius (minus 202 degrees Fahrenheit) using liquid nitrogen flowing through the chamber walls to approximate the Antarctic like bone chilling cold. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechSince the atmosphere of Mars is very thin – roughly 0.6% compared to Earth – most of the air was pumped out to simulate the meager atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars. The test chamber's door is still open in this photo. The rover is fully assembled with all primary flight hardware and instruments. ![]() Engineers are now conducting an extensive regimen of tests that will check out the performance and operational capabilities of the rover under Mars-like conditions.Ĭuriosity enters the 7.6-meter-diameter space-simulation chamber on Maat NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. It was placed inside a 7.6 meter (25 foot) diameter high vacuum chamber at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA’s next Mars rover, named Curiosity, is now undergoing crucial tests that are designed to simulate the harsh environmental conditions of the Martian surface that awaits the rover when she lands there in August 2012.Ĭuriosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory or MSL, is the size of a mini-Cooper. ![]()
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