Mars Science Laboratory: Curiosity Rover

With its rover named Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet's "habitability." To find out, the rover will carry the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the Martian surface. The rover will analyze samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemical building blocks of life on Mars and will assess what the Martian environment was like in the past.
To make best use of the rover's science capabilities, a diverse international team of scientists and engineers will make daily decisions about the rover's activities for the following day. Even if the rover's technology all performs flawlessly, some types of evidence the mission will seek about past environments may not have persisted in the rock record. While the possibility that life might have existed on Mars provokes great interest, a finding that conditions did not favor life would also pay off with valuable insight about differences and similarities between early Mars and early Earth.
This book contains comprehensive coverage of all aspects of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and its Curiosity rover. There is complete data on the MSL mission, science investigations, historical Mars missions, the Gale Crater landing site, and the radioisotope nuclear power source. 158 Pages. Over 60 photos and illustrations, most in full color. Hyperlinked table of contents for easy navigation.
Partial Contents:
Mars Science Laboratory – Fact Sheet
Mission Overview
Science Payload
Spacecraft
Launch Vehicle
Mars at a Glance
Mars Science Laboratory Investigations
Science Payload
Engineering Instruments
MSL Entry, Descent and Landing Instrument (MEDLI) Suite
Interplanetary Cruise and Approach to Mars
Entry, Descent and Landing
Mars Surface Operations
Rover Telecommunication
Rover Computing
Rover Navigation
Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site
Mars Recent, Current and Upcoming Missions Overview
Mars Science: A Story of Changes
Myths and Reality
Historical Mars Missions
MSL: The Science
Science Goals
Landing Site Selection
Instruments
Objectives
Instrument Details
Sampling System
Science Planning
Launch, Cruise, Approach, and EDL Phases; Surface Initial Checkout Activities
Surface Operations Phase: Overview
Example Mission Scenarios