The name of this post comes from a tweet - the tweet of a
six wheeled four eyed Martian rover, Curiosity.
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| Curiosity's self-portrait |
Does Curiosity remind you of any other adorable robots?
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| WALL-E from Pixar's movie of the same name. |
Curiosity,
like WALL-E, is a pretty funny machine. On September 10th, the rover
said “They see me rovin': Check out my dubs
planted firmly on the Martian surface.” You can follow the
Curiosity’s tweets here.
The
purpose of sending the rover to Mars is to discover if the planet ever was
hospitable to life. Curiosity has scientific instruments to test the soil and
rocks. I’m talking cool stuff like a laser to shoot at
rocks. Read all about the specific instruments here.
Mars
has many interesting features that have captured the attention of geophysicists
for decades. The planet is almost perfectly divided in half with the southern
hemisphere 1-3km higher in elevation than the northern hemisphere. It’s called
the Mars dichotomy (big
word for division). Mars also has a giant crack in it called the Valles Marineris which
is much larger than the Grand Canyon on Earth.
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| The Mars dichotomy shown by change in elevation from north to south. |
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| Valles Marineris shown as the blue in this colored image. |
The explanation of these features could help us understand
more about our own planet. Curiosity is assisting geophysicists by investigating
how much water is in the soil and rocks of Mars. The results will help narrow
down the possible models for how Mars formed.
The treasure-trove of information that Curiosity is sending
back to Earth will fuel scientists for years and hopefully inspire kids and
adults alike to imagine the wonders Mars holds.
