NASA Takes Curiosity Out For Its First Spin On Mars
Mars rover Curiosity took its first test drive on the soil of Mars on Wednesday, reportedly as a prior exercise to the long mountain trek scheduled for later this year. The news first arrived through Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer Allen Chen's tweet which read "Wheel tracks on Mars" along with an attached image from the Rover itself.
The "test drive" involved the Rover moving forward by about 10 feet, turn to its right, then reverse and halt slightly left of its previous spot. The drive was carried out as a part of regular drill to check for any technical faults. A successful attempt renders the Rover fit for traveling longer distances in the future.
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Though the test drive was successful, NASA found its wind sensor on the Rover to be damaged. The wind sensor was to be used as an instrument to analyse the Martian weather and soil. The cause of damage has not yet been deduced but one theory is that the damage took place during the landing.
According to Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity, it is a possibility that the pebbles that flew towards Curiosity during its descent might have hit exposed circuit boards and broke some wires leading to a damaged wind sensor. A second sensor is currently in operation in place of the damaged one.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-# Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#
The "test drive" involved the Rover moving forward by about 10 feet, turn to its right, then reverse and halt slightly left of its previous spot. The drive was carried out as a part of regular drill to check for any technical faults. A successful attempt renders the Rover fit for traveling longer distances in the future.
#-Link-Snipped-#
Though the test drive was successful, NASA found its wind sensor on the Rover to be damaged. The wind sensor was to be used as an instrument to analyse the Martian weather and soil. The cause of damage has not yet been deduced but one theory is that the damage took place during the landing.
According to Ashwin Vasavada, deputy project scientist for Curiosity, it is a possibility that the pebbles that flew towards Curiosity during its descent might have hit exposed circuit boards and broke some wires leading to a damaged wind sensor. A second sensor is currently in operation in place of the damaged one.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-# Image Credit: #-Link-Snipped-#
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