1. Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents:
Mission Overview
Timeline
Scientific Objectives
Spacecraft
Equipment
Links
Image from NASA
Banner image:
Image from:
Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.

2. Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.
MISSION OVERVIEW
The Mars Science Lab is a 2009 international effort to study the conditions of Mars and further determine whether it could sustain life.
Image from NASA
Image from:
Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.
Back to Table of Contents

3. MSL landing with “sky-crane.”
TIMELINE
September or October 2009: MSL launches.
Summer 2010: MSL lands on the surface of Mars.
2012: MSL will end operations.
Image from NASA
Image from:
Back to Table of Contents
MSL landing with “sky-crane.”

4. SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES
To detect any carbon-based compounds.
To determine whether life could be sustained on Mars.
To study the distribution of water.
To investigate the nature and history of Mars’s atmosphere.
To investigate the processes that formed and modified rocks on the surface.
Image from:
Image from NASA
MSL drilling.
Back to Table of Contents

5. MSL’s landing sequence.
SPACECRAFT
The rover is twice as long and four times as heavy as Spirit and Opportunity.
Upon landing, MSL will separate from its shell and eventually be lowered by a sky-crane, which will help the rover land softly.
Image from NASA
MSL’s landing sequence.
Back to Table of Contents

6. Environmental Sensors
EQUIPMENT INDEX
Equipment Index:
Cameras
Spectrometers
Radiation Detectors
Environmental Sensors
Image from NASA
Image from:
MSL
Back to Table of Contents

7. CAMERAS MSL is equipped with three cameras:
The Mast Camera (MastCam) can take high-def images and videos.
The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) takes close-up pictures of rocks and can identify minerals in samples.
The Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) takes pictures of the surface during the spacecraft’s descent.
Image from NASA
Image from:
MastCam
Back to Equipment Index

8. SPECTROMETERS MSL is equipped with four spectrometers:
The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) uses X-Rays to determine the chemical composition of samples.
Laser-Induced Remote Sensing for Chemistry and Micro-Imaging (ChemCam) uses a laser to vaporize materials and then identifies the type and composition of the rock being studied.
Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction (CheMin) measures the abundances of minerals.
The Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite (SAM) studies the abundances of various isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
Image from NASA
ChemCam in action.
Back to Equipment Index

9. An illustration of how DAN works.
RADIATION DETECTORS
MSL is equipped with two radiation detectors:
The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) measures and identifies radiation in Mars’s atmosphere.
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) shoots neutrons underground to detect if they are absorbed by water. If there is no water, the neutrons should reflect back at a rapid rate.
Image from NASA
An illustration of how DAN works.
Back to Equipment Index

10. ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS
The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) measures atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature, wind speed and direction, and ultraviolet radiation.
Image from NASA
REMS
Back to Equipment Index

11. Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.
LINKS
Image from NASA
Image from:
Artist’s render of MSL on Mars.
Back to Table of Contents