Esta vez ha salido bien. A las 15:02 GMT el cohete Atlas V que portaba el Mars Science Laboratory (incluyendo el Rover Curiosity) despegó de Cabo Cañaveral. A estas horas los sistemas se han puesto en contacto, y todo parece en orden. Si todo acontece con normalidad, en agosto de 2012, el Curiosity se posará sobre el Cráter Gale, y comenzará a buscar respuestas sobre la vida en Marte.
La misión está previsto que dure, al menos, 14 años, ya que Curiosity lleva una pila nuclear, a diferencia de sus antecesores, que ahora tienen ya sus paneles solares llenos de polvo marciano.
Está preparado para averiguar si hubo o todavía existen en Marte los componentes orgánicos de la vida y la cantidad de agua que tuvo en el pasado. Buscará componentes orgánicos (moléculas basadas en carbono), utilizando su espectrómetro de masa, cromatógrafo de gas, y espectrómetro de láser. Como ha dicho Doug McCuisition,
director del Programa de Exploración de Marte en la sede de la Nasa, "La ciencia ficción es ahora un hecho científico". (Foto:Nasa)
This time it went all rigth. At 15:02 GMT the Atlas V rocket that carried the Mars Science Laboratory (including the Rover Curiosity) lifted off from Cape Canaveral. At this time the systems have been in touch, and everything seems in order. If everything goes rigth, in August 2012, the Curiosity will land on the Crater Gale, and will begin to seek answers about life on Mars.
The mission is expected to last at least 14 years, because Curiosity carries a nuclear pile, unlike their predecessors, wich have now it's solar panels covered with Martian dust.
Curiosity is ready to find out if there were or still exist on Mars the organic components of life and the amount of water it had in the past, seek organic compounds (carbon-based molecules) using the mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, and laser spectrometer. As Doug McCuisition, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, said: "Science fiction is now science fact." (Photo: NASA)
This time it went all rigth. At 15:02 GMT the Atlas V rocket that carried the Mars Science Laboratory (including the Rover Curiosity) lifted off from Cape Canaveral. At this time the systems have been in touch, and everything seems in order. If everything goes rigth, in August 2012, the Curiosity will land on the Crater Gale, and will begin to seek answers about life on Mars.
The mission is expected to last at least 14 years, because Curiosity carries a nuclear pile, unlike their predecessors, wich have now it's solar panels covered with Martian dust.
Curiosity is ready to find out if there were or still exist on Mars the organic components of life and the amount of water it had in the past, seek organic compounds (carbon-based molecules) using the mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph, and laser spectrometer. As Doug McCuisition, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, said: "Science fiction is now science fact." (Photo: NASA)
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