Many technologies will be used for NASA's "Curiosity" rover

Well, I just heard that NASA's rover called "Curiosity" is scheduled to launch on the 26th of November which really excites me. The rover measures almost 1 T and it will contain many different technologies. Curiosity's main focus is to determine if there is any new evidence that Mars can or had been able to contain microbial life. In other words, scientists want to know if Mars has any chemical ingredients that are required for life. It is estimated that Curiosity will arrive into the red Jovian planet's thin atmosphere at roughly 5,150 km/h where it will reach to the floor of a crater measuring 161 km in width.

Technologies will be used such as sky crane technology as well as a new guidance type of system. The whole point of those will be to control Curiosity's flight computer and change the entry vehicle's flight path. This will be relied on atmospheric conditions. The rover will use a chemistry-sensing laser to blow up and analyze any samples of rock. It will also use a drill-equipped robot arm to send samples to the chemistry lab that is inside the rover. This will be done for more analysis. Curiosity will also use a Mast Camera to snap high-resolution pictures as well as video of the Martian landscape. It will even have a Mars Hand Lens Imager, Mars Descent Imager, and Sample Analysis at Mars. An Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer will also be used for taking measurements of chemical elements in Martian dirt and rocks. This spectrometer will do so by blasting out powerful X-rays as well as helium nuclei where it will cause electrons to go out of their orbits resulting in a release of X-rays.

I will be very excited once this rover is launched and it will truly be amazing if NASA scientists will be able to find out if there really are any signs of microbial life. There has been so many different missions launched to Mars by the United States and the Russians but this one will contain more advanced technologies. In the future, I really look forward to learn more about Curiosity's results and see how much history will be made.