2. Mars Science Laboratory and Its Journey to Mars
The Golden Age of the robotic exploration of Mars will continue when the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) touches down this August. The Mars community has been spoiled over the last decade with the overwhelmingly successful Mars Odyssey, Mars Exploration Rovers, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Phoenix Lander. The extensive missions and troves of data are a testament to the impressive capabilities of NASA’s robotic exploration teams and an encouraging counterweight to the foundering manned program.
Of course, past successes won’t mean a whole lot in the “what have you done for me lately” sphere of public opinion if the $2.5 billion MSL fails to deliver. And the bar is higher than ever, since previous missions have already proven the past presence of water and sketched geochemical vignettes of the planet’s history. Much of MSL’s outcome hinges on its landing site: Gale Crater, which possesses clay and sulfate minerals that seem to suggest an aqueous past. Look for MSL to trace the history of water around Gale Crater through mineralogy and, if we’re being optimistic, dig up some organic molecules. That is, assuming the Sky Crane works.
Image: The launch of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory on Nov. 26, 2011. (NASA/United Launch Alliance)