Space, The Final Frontier
Written by Sorensen Media Group on February 11, 2019
HERE ARE SOME MORE AMAZING FACTS ABOUT EARTH & OUTER SPACE: THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY AND ITS ROVER CENTERPIECE, THE CURIOSITY, IS THE MOST SUPER AMBITIOUS MARS MISSION YET DONE BY NASA. THE CURIOSITY ROVER LANDED ON MARS IN 2012 (7 YEARS AGO); IT’S PRIMARY MISSION?; TO FIND OUT IF MARS IS, OR EVER WAS, SUITABLE FOR LIFE….. ANOTHER THING NASA WANTED TO LEARN WAS MORE ABOUT THE RED PLANET’S ENVIRONMENT.…..IN MARCH 2018, THE CURIOUSITY ROVER CELEBRATED 2,000 SOLS (MARS DAYS) ON THE PLANET, MAKING ITS WAY FROM GALE CRATER TO AEOLIS MONS (COLLOQUIALLY KNOWN AS… MOUNT SHARP), WHERE IT HAS LOOKED AT GEOLOGICAL INFORMATION EMBEDDED IN THE MOUNTAIN’S LAYERS. ALONG THE WAY, IT ALSO HAS FOUND EXTENSIVE EVIDENCE OF PAST WATER AND GEOLOGICAL CHANGE. THE CURIOUSITY ROVER IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A SMALL SUV. IT IS 9 FEET 10 INCHES LONG BY 9 FEET 1 INCH WIDE AND ABOUT 7 FEET HIGH . IT WEIGHS 2,000 LBS…. AND CURIOSITY’S WHEELS HAVE A 20-INCH DIAMETER. JUST ITS SHEER SIZE MAKES THE CURIOUSITY STAND OUT……… IT WAS DESIGNED TO ROLL OVER OVER OBSTACLES THT WERE AS HIGH AS 25 INCHES AND TO TRAVEL ABOUT 660 FEET PER DAY. THE ROVER’S POWER COMES FROM A MULTI-MISSION RADIO-ISOTOPE THERMO-ELECTRIC GENERATOR, WHICH PRODUCES ELECTRICITY FROM THE HEAT OF PLUTONIUM-238’S RADIOACTIVE DECAY… OKAY, NOW MY HEAD HURTS FROM TOO MUCH SCIENCE!!
…AND THOSE ARE… YOUR SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER…QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS; FACTS , MYTHS AND TALES FOR TODAY….