Universe Today
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NASA's
Curiosity Mars Science Lab
(MSL) rover is speeding away from Earth on a 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) journey to
Mars
following a gorgeous liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 10:02 a.m. EST on Nov. 26.
Enjoy the gallery of
Curiosity
launch images collected here from the Universe Today team and local photographers as well as
NASA
and United Launch Alliance.
The historic voyage of the largest and most sophisticated
Martian rover
ever built by humans seeks to determine if Mars ever offered conditions favorable for the
genesis of microbial life
.
[caption id="attachment_91394" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory rover soars to Mars atop an Atlas V rocket on Nov. 26 at 10:02 a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer"]
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"We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced
scientific laboratory to Mars
," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "MSL will tell us critical things we need to know about Mars, and while it advances science, we'll be working on the capabilities for a human mission to the Red Planet and to other destinations where we've never been."
The mission will pioneer a first of its kind precision landing technology and a sky- crane touchdown to deliver the car sized rover to the foothills of a towering and layered mountain inside
Gale Crater
on Aug. 6, 2012.
[caption id="attachment_91396" align="aligncenter" width="386" caption="Curiosity Mars rover launch. Credit: Mike Deep/David Gonzales"]
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Curiosity is packed to the gills with 10 state of the art science instruments that are seeking the signs of life in the form of
organic molecules
- the carbon based building blocks of life as we know it.
[caption id="attachment_91395" align="aligncenter" width="386" caption="Curiosity Mars rover launch. Credit: Mike Deep/David Gonzales"]
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The robot is equipped with a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.
The 1 ton Curiosity rover sports a science payload that's 15 times heavier than NASA's previous set of rovers - Spirit and Opportunity - which
landed on Mars
in 2004. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking the elemental composition of rocks from a distance, and an X-ray diffraction instrument for definitive identification of minerals in powdered samples.
[caption id="attachment_91393" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Curiosity rover bound for Mars punches through Florida clouds. Credit: Ken Kremer"]
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[caption id="attachment_91391" align="aligncenter" width="393" caption="Curiosity rover launches to Mars on Atlas V rocket on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Mike Killian/Zero-G News"]
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[caption id="attachment_91392" align="aligncenter" width="386" caption="Curiosity rover launches to Mars on Atlas V rocket on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Credit: Mike Killian/Zero-G News"]
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[caption id="attachment_91398" align="aligncenter" width="388" caption="A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 10:02 p.m. EST with NASA's Mars Science Lab rover Curiosity. Credit: Pat Corkery/ULA"]
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[caption id="attachment_91397" align="aligncenter" width="306" caption="Credit: NASA/KenThornsley"]
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[caption id="attachment_91399" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory launches. Credit: ULA"]
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Launch Video -
Credit: Matthew Travis/Spacearium
[caption id="attachment_91409" align="aligncenter" width="390" caption="MSL launch. Credit: Julian Leek"]
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[caption id="attachment_91408" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="MSL launch. Credit: Julian Leek"]
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Complete Coverage of Curiosity - NASA's Next Mars Rover launched 26 Nov. 2011
Read continuing features about Curiosity by Ken Kremer starting here:
Curiosity Majestically Blasts off on 'Mars Trek' to ascertain 'Are We Alone?
Mars Trek – Curiosity Poised to Search for Signs of Life
Curiosity Rover 'Locked and Loaded' for Quantum Leap in Pursuit of Martian Microbial Life
Science Rich Gale Crater and NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover in Glorious 3-D – Touchdown in a Habitable Zone
Curiosity Powered Up for Martian Voyage on Nov. 26 – Exclusive Message from Chief Engineer Rob Manning
NASA's Curiosity Set to Search for Signs of Martian Life
Curiosity Rover Bolted to Atlas Rocket – In Search of Martian Microbial Habitats
Closing the Clamshell on a Martian Curiosity
Curiosity Buttoned Up for Martian Voyage in Search of Life's Ingredients
Assembling Curiosity's Rocket to Mars
Encapsulating Curiosity for Martian Flight Test
Dramatic New NASA Animation Depicts Next Mars Rover in Action
Packing a Mars Rover for the Trip to Florida; Time Lapse Video
Test Roving NASA's Curiosity on Earth