Fast Facts
Canada and Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
| Objective | Assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life. |
|---|---|
| Launched | November 26, 2011 at 10:02 a.m. EST from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on an Atlas V 541 rocket. |
| Lands | Scheduled for August 6 at 1:31 a.m. Eastern (August 5, 10:31 p.m. PDT). |
| Destination | Gale crater near Mars's equator. Named after Australian astronomer Walter Frederick Gale, the crater spans 154 km in diameter and has a mountain rising about 5 km from its floor. |
| MSL traveled | About 570 million kilometres in total on its way to Mars. |
| Distance between Earth and Mars in August 2012 | 248 million kilometers |
| Communications delay between Earth and Mars in August 2012 | 13,8 minutes |
| Length of mission | One Mars year (23 Earth months) |
| Expected atmospheric temperatures at the landing site | Minus 90 C to 0 C |
| Size | About the size of a small car: about 3 metres long (not including the arm), 2,8 metres wide and 2,1 metres tall (roughly the height of a basketball player at the top of the mast). |
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| Arm Reach | Just over 2 metres |
| Weight | 900 kg |
| Carries | A robotic arm and 10 science instruments, including an on-board geology lab, a rock-zapping laser and 17 cameras. |
| Power | A radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat of plutonium's radioactive decay. This nuclear battery provides a large energy supply with a long lifespan that is independent of Martian seasons. |
| The Canadian Space Agency's contribution | The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) |
|---|---|
| Consists of 3 parts | The APXS sensor head (which includes a NASA-provided contact sensor), an electronics box and a calibration target. |
| Goal | Identify the chemical elements in rocks and soil, as well as their abundance. |
| Location on the rover | APXS sits on the end of Curiosity's robotic arm. The electronics box is inside the rover's body and the calibration target is mounted on the rover's "shoulder." |
| Size | The sensor is roughly 6x6x7cm—about the size and shape of a Rubik's cube. |
| Principle Investigator | Dr Ralf Gellert, University of Guelph, who also leads the APXS science team |
| Science team members are from | University of Guelph, University of New Brunswick, NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (a division of Caltech), University of California, San Diego, Cornell University, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the and the Australian National University. With funding from the CSA, scientists from Brock University, the University of Western Ontario and the CSA are also participating in the mission as NASA-selected Participating Scientists. |
| Prime Contractor | MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) |
| The Canadian Space Agency's investment | About $17,8 million (Cdn) for the design, building, science support and primary operations of APXS. |
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