NASA Now: Engineering Design: Curiosity Mission to Mars
1,096 views · Published 15 May 2013 · 7:24 · Indexed 30 October 2026
Channel: NASA Video · 2013 · Science & Technology
Mars is the famous and fearsome Red Planet named after the Roman god of war. People have been obsessed, amused and occasionally terrified of Mars since it was first spotted in 400 B.C. Itâs also the planet most like Earth. Spacecraft voyages to the Red Planet have revealed a world strangely familiar, yet different enough to challenge perceptions of what makes a planet work. Every time we think we are close to understanding Mars, new discoveries send us straight back to revise existing theories. In the fall 2011, NASA will be launching its newest rover to Mars -- the Mars Science Laboratory, or Curiosity. It will pick up where rovers Spirit and Opportunity are leaving off. Nagin Cox tells us how a robot this large will be landing on Mars and a little about the scientific goals of the mission.
