National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov

SEEKING SIGNS OF LIFE 

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program has been created to undertake the long-term robotic exploration of Mars, the Red Planet. 

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) project is the next mission in a series of explorations intended to unlock the history 

of Mars. Part of MSL is a mobile robotic rover, appropriately 

named Curiosity, which is designed for conducting an in-depth 

investigation of Mars’ past or present ability to sustain microbial life. In essence, the mission is to determine the planet’s 

“habitability.” Curiosity is larger and can travel farther than 

Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers 

that began exploring the Red Planet in early 2004. Curiosity

will carry the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments 

for scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface. The 

rover will analyze dozens of samples scooped from the soil, 

drilled from rocks, and pulled from the atmosphere. The record 

of the planet’s climate and geology is essentially “written in 

the rocks and soil”—in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover’s onboard laboratory will study 

the samples and the local geologic setting in order to detect 

chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars. 

It will assess what the martian environment was like in the 

past, addressing the fundamental question, “Was Mars ever a 

habitat for microbial life?”

Gale Crater is a fascinating place to explore 

because of the mountain of layered materials in the middle—a mound about 3 times as high as the rim of the Grand 

Canyon (5 km/3 miles) on Earth! The layers tell a story 

about what Mars was like in the past, perhaps spanning 

much of the early history of the Red Planet. Studies from 

orbit have revealed that the layers have different minerals 

depending on their height. Near the bottom of the mound 

are clay minerals. Above the clay-bearing layers are layers 

with minerals containing sulfur and oxygen. These different 

layers represent different environmental histories of Mars. 

To get to the mound, the Curiosity rover will land on a flatter 

part of the crater and carefully work its way upward, layer by 

layer. Along the way, Curiosity will traverse over sediments 

formed in the wetter and warmer environment of early Mars 

to sediments formed as the planet’s environment transitioned to the cold dry Mars of today.

MSL PAYLOAD

SCIENCE PAYLOAD

Remote Sensing

Mastcam (M. Malin, MSSS)—Color and telephoto imaging, 

video, atmospheric opacity

ChemCam (R. Wiens, LANL/CNES)—Chemical composition; 

remote micro-imaging

Contact Instruments (Arm) 

MAHLI (K. Edgett, MSSS)—Hand-lens color imaging

APXS (R. Gellert, U. Guelph, Canada)—Chemical composition

Analytical Laboratory (Rover Body) 

SAM (P. Mahaffy, GSFC/CNES)—Chemical and isotopic 

composition, including organics

CheMin (D. Blake, ARC)—Mineralogy

Environmental Characterization

MARDI (M. Malin, MSSS)—Descent imaging

REMS (J. Gómez-Elvira, CAB, Spain)—Meteorology/UV

RAD (D. Hassler, SwRI)—High-energy radiation

DAN (I. Mitrofanov, IKI, Russia)—Subsurface hydrogen

ENGINEERING PAYLOAD

Entry Descent & Landing Sensors

MEDLI (F. McNeil Cheatwood, LANL)—Measures performance 

of the MSL heatshield and atmospheric conditions during 

entry and descent at Mars

CURIOSITY INSTRUMENTS

The Next Mars Rover

Landing-Site Geology

NP-2012-03-850-HQ

ChemCam

SAM

ChemMin

Mastcam

REMS

DAN

MARDI MAHLI

APXS

Brush

Drill/Sieves

Scoop

RAD

For more information about Gale crater go to: 

www.nasa.gov/msl

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/videos
THE ARRIVAL

The MSL spacecraft will make a dramatic entry into the martian 

atmosphere and then descend on a parachute. Next, a descent 

stage carrying Curiosity will drop away and slow itself further 

with small rocket engines. Hovering just above the Mars surface, the descent stage will become a “sky crane” as it lowers 

the rover on a tether to the surface, where Curiosity will land 

on its wheels. On the surface, the rover will be able to drive 

over obstacles up to 75 centimeters (29 inches) high and travel 

up to 140 meters (475 feet) per hour. On average, Curiosity is 

expected to travel about 200 meters (656 feet) per driving day, 

depending on power levels, slippage, steepness of the terrain, 

visibility, and the engineering tasks and science investigations 

that it may be assigned.

Arriving at Mars in August 2012, MSL will serve as a beginning 

towards the next decade of Mars exploration, representing a 

huge step in Mars surface science and exploration capability by:

• Demonstrating the ability to land a metric-ton-class rover 

 on the surface of Mars. 

• Demonstrating the ability to land much more precisely than 

 previous missions.

• Demonstrating long-range mobility for collection of more 

 diverse samples and performing a wider array of studies. 

• Demonstrating reliable, long-lived power systems 

 necessary for future missions exposed to the extreme 

 environments of space and planetary surfaces. 

WHY IS IT CALLED CURIOSITY?

The rover’s name originated from the “Name NASA’s Next Mars 

Rover“ contest that resulted in thousands of essays submitted 

by students ages 5 through 18 from American schools. The essay written by twelve-year old Clara Ma, a sixth grader from 

Lenexa, Kansas, was chosen from more than 9,000 proposals 

entered. In her essay, Clara best defined her idea for the name 

“Curiosity” as “an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s 

mind.” As winner of the MSL rover naming contest, Clara can be 

proud in knowing her suggestion will leave an indelible mark 

in the minds of many—and on the largest, most sophisticated 

rover ever sent to Mars. 

Clara Ma’s essay: www.nasa.gov/msl

Entry, Descent, and Landing Entry Interface

Peak Heating

Peak Deceleration

Hypersonic

Aeromaneuvering

Parachute Deploy

Heatshield Separation

Radar Data Collection

Backshell Separation

Powered Descent

Spirit & Opportunity

Sojourner

Curiosity

Sky Crane

LAUNCH AND LANDING PROFILE

Mars Launch Date: Nov 26, 2011, 10:02 a.m. EST

(7:02 a.m. PST)

Location: Cape Canaveral

Air Force Station, Florida

Vehicle: United Launch 

Alliance Atlas V 541

Mars Landing Date:

Aug 6, 2012, 1:30 a.m. EDT

To view an animation of the landing go to:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/videos

MSL Objectives Include:

• Assessing biological potential of the martian site

• Characterizing geology and geochemistry

• Investigating the role of water, atmospheric 

 evolution and climate

• Characterizing the spectrum of surface radiation

NASA’s Mars rovers keep getting more sophisticated and bigger! 

Sojourner, the first rover on Mars was very small and didn’t go far. Spirit

and Opportunity are much bigger and have driven many times farther 

than expected. Curiosity represents an even bigger leap in capability 

and will be able to carry its on-board chemistry lab long distances.

Sky Crane represents the use of a new 

“soft-landing” technique employed at Mars. The 

sheer mass of MSL prevents engineers from using 

the familiar airbags to deliver their rover safely to the 

martian surface. When the vehicle has been slowed to 

nearly zero velocity, the rover will be released from the 

descent stage. A bridle and “umbilical cord” will lower 

the rover to the ground. When the on-board computer 

senses that touchdown is successful, it will cut the 

bridle and fly away, leaving the rover on the surface. 

Sojourner Spirit &

Opportunity Curiosity

Rover Mass 10.5 kg 174 kg 950 kg

Driving Distance (req’t/actual) 10 m/102 m 600 m/31.468 m 20,000 m/TBD

Mission Duration* (req’t/actual) 10 sols/83 sols 90 sols/2886 sols† 668 sols/TBD

Power/Sol* 0.016 kWhr 0.499-0.590 kWhr ~2.5 kWhr

Instruments/Mass 1/<1.5 kg 7/5.5 kg 10/75 kg

Data Return* 2.9 Mb/sol 50–150 Mb/sol As needed

EDL Ballistic Entry Ballistic Entry Guided Entry

*1 sol = 1 Martian day

† Mission duration for Opportunity as of March 2012