The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station measures the wind's speed and chart its direction, as well as determining temperature and humidity in the surrounding air. [108] Using the same collection optics, the RMI provides context images of the LIBS analysis spots. Ages: 3 years and up. [22], Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone's mind. Careful inspection of the tracks reveals a unique, repeating pattern, which the rover can use as a visual reference to drive more accurately in barren terrain. © Besides hunting for habitability, Curiosity has other instruments on board that are designed to learn more about the environment surrounding it. [136] [90] MAHLI has both white and ultraviolet Light-emitting diode (LED) illumination for imaging in darkness or fluorescence imaging. [89] Malin also developed a pair of MastCams with zoom lenses,[95] but these were not included in the rover because of the time required to test the new hardware and the looming November 2011 launch date. [145] It was designed, built, and tested by MDA US Systems, building upon their prior robotic arm work on the Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, the Phoenix lander, and the two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. If the specimen warrants further analysis, Curiosity can drill into the boulder and deliver a powdered sample to either the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) or the CheMin analytical laboratories inside the rover. A beam of X-rays is then directed at the powder and the crystal structure of the minerals deflects it at characteristic angles, allowing scientists to identify the minerals being analyzed. The calibration target for MAHLI includes color references, a metric bar graphic, a 1909 VDB Lincoln penny, and a stair-step pattern for depth calibration. The update, called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS), represented the first time artificial intelligence was deployed on a faraway spacecraft. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! It is car-sized, about 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide, and 7 feet tall (about 3 meters long, 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall). Space Station Rocket Lunar Lander Curiosity Rover Shuttle Ship Figure Building Blocks MOC Model T… The panorama is made up of 60 images from the MAHLI camera on the rover’s robotic arm along with 11 images from the Mastcam on the mast, or "head," of the rover. NASA's Curiosity rover left Earth in November 2011 and landed in August 2012. [143][144] The arm makes use of three joints to extend it forward and to stow it again while driving. [94], One MastCam camera is the Medium Angle Camera (MAC), which has a 34 mm (1.3 in) focal length, a 15° field of view, and can yield 22 cm/pixel (8.7 in/pixel) scale at 1 km (0.62 mi). The rover weighs 1,982 lbs (899kg) on Earth, but it weighs 743 lbs in Mars gravity due to the difference in gravity. NASA's InSight mission – a stationary lander designed to probe the interior of Mars – launched for the Red Planet on May 5, 2018, and is expected to land on Nov. 26, 2018. Search for organic and inorganic signatures, one of the goals for "SAM" (sample analysis at Mars)", "Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite", "The Sample Analysis at Mars Investigation and Instrument Suite", "NASA's Curiosity Rover Brushes Mars Rock Clean, a First", "SwRI Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) Homepage", "Laboratory for Space Gamma Spectroscopy - DAN", "MSL Science Corner: Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)", "Curiosity 'hammers' a rock and completes first drilling tests", "Mars Science Laboratory Sample Acquisition, Sample Processing and Handling: Subsystem Design and Test Challenges", "MSL Participating Scientists Program - Proposal Information Package", "Internal debris may be causing problem with Mars rover's drill", "NASA Is Trying to Get Mars Rover Curiosity's Arm Unstuck", "Drill Issue Continues to Afflict Mars Rover Curiosity", "Curiosity's balky drill: The problem and solutions", "NASA's Mars Rover Crashed Into a DMCA Takedown", "Huge Crowds Watched NASA Rover Land on Mars from NYC's Times Square", "Mars Rover 'Mohawk Guy' a Space Age Internet Sensation | Curiosity Rover", "Mars landing proves memes now travel faster than the speed of light (gallery)", "Mars Looks Quite Familiar, if Only on the Surface", "inXitu co-founder wins NASA Invention of the Year Award for 2010", "Martian rover tech has an eye for priceless works of art", "NASA's Curiosity rover flying to Mars with Obama's, others' autographs on board", "Lonely Curiosity rover sings 'Happy Birthday' to itself on Mars", "NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Marks First Martian Year", "NASA announces plans for new $1.5 billion Mars rover", "Life on Mars? Night sky, April 2021: What you can see this month [maps]. Curiosity's Eyes. If a particular surface is of interest, Curiosity can vaporize a small portion of it with an infrared laser and examine the resulting spectra signature to query the rock's elemental composition. Rover name: Curiosity: Size: About the size of a small SUV — 10 feet long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall — (about 3 meters long (not including the arm), 2.7 meters wide, and 2.2 meters tall), or about the height of a basketball player. [15][16] The rover is still operational, and as of April 3, 2021, Curiosity has been active on Mars for 3078 sols (3162 total days; 8 years, 240 days) since its landing (see current status). The NASA/JPL Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Project Team was awarded the 2012 Robert J. Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association "In recognition of the extraordinary achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the nation's technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly improving humanity's understanding of ancient Martian habitable environments. If so, scientists will likely determine these are organisms hitchhiking from Earth. The die-away time of neutrons is measured by the DE after each neutron pulse from the PNG. (By contrast, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are 1.6 metres [5.2 feet] long and weigh 174 kg [384 … [124] The rover can drill samples from rocks and the resulting fine powder is poured into the instrument via a sample inlet tube on the top of the vehicle. April 3, 1973: Soviet Union launches Salyut 2 space station, Fiery 'airburst' of superheated gas slammed into Antarctica 430,000 years ago. [2] Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral (CCAFS) on 26 November 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on 6 August 2012, 05:17:57 UTC. In the months after landing, NASA noticed damage to the rover's wheels appearing much faster than expected. It's really an amazing accomplishment". NY 10036. In 2016, however, the team determined the methane spike was not a seasonal event. High-resolution cameras surrounding the rover take pictures as it moves, providing visual information that can be compared to environments on Earth. Curiosity's 7-foot arm can pick up samples from the surface and cook them inside the rover, sniffing the gases that come out of there and analyzing them for clues as to how the rocks and soil formed. The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover centerpiece, Curiosity, is the most ambitious Mars mission yet flown by NASA. Related: How Long Does It Take to Get to Mars. [28] In addition to the fixed RGBG Bayer pattern filter, each camera has an eight-position filter wheel. The crack isn't a big deal, and the sample was still able to be studied by the rover. Curiosity is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The parachute could only slow MSL to 200 mph (322 kph), far too fast for landing. On Curiosity's front, under foil covers, are several ceramic blocks infused with artificial organic compounds. Among those goals is to have a continuous record of weather and radiation observations to determine how suitable the site would be for an eventual human mission. The car-sized rover is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The Sample Analysis of Mars instrument, if it does pick up evidence of organic material, can double-check that. [86][128][129] The three main instruments are a Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (QMS), a gas chromatograph (GC) and a tunable laser spectrometer (TLS). 4.6 out of 5 stars 102. Space is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. It found that its landing site, Gale Crater, once had a calm lake that could have supported life. In December 2013, NASA determined the radiation levels measured by Curiosity were manageable for a crewed Mars mission in the future. [143][145] The diameter of the hole in a rock after drilling is 1.6 cm (0.63 in) and up to 5 cm (2.0 in) deep. Scientists hit something close to the jackpot in early 2013, when the rover beamed back information showing that Mars had habitable conditions in the past. Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons. Curiosity is the largest robot to ever land on another planet. Full-scale models of three generations of NASA Mars rovers show the increase in size from the Sojourner rover of the Mars Pathfinder project that landed on Mars in 1997 (center), to the twin Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity that landed in 2004 (left), to the Mars Science Laboratory rover for a mission to land in 2010 (right). Another NASA orbiter called MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission) examines the Martian atmosphere for atmospheric loss and other interesting phenomena. More than 1.2 million people from the international community participated, and their names were etched into silicon using an electron-beam machine used for fabricating micro devices at JPL, and this plaque is now installed on the deck of Curiosity. Curiosity descending under its parachute (6 August 2012; MRO/HiRISE). The cameras use visible light to capture stereoscopic three-dimensional (3-D) imagery. When they received confirmation that Curiosity was safe, engineers pumped fists and jumped up and down in jubilation. Powder from the first drill samples that Curiosity obtained included the elements of sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon, which are all considered "building blocks" or fundamental elements that could support life. [118] Curiosity's APXS was developed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Engineers created a smaller, portable version named the X-Duetto. It is now carefully evaluating the layers on the slope as it moves uphill. [103], ChemCam has the ability to record up to 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. This includes: The spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Nov. 26, 2011, and arrived on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, after a daring landing sequence that NASA dubbed "Seven Minutes of Terror." Curiosity, on the other hand, was active when it touched down on the surface of Mars, employing the rover suspension system for the final set-down. [21], A NASA panel selected the name Curiosity following a nationwide student contest that attracted more than 9,000 proposals via the Internet and mail. Mission name: Mars Science Laboratory. Thus, it is believed that the rover may have the opportunity to study two billion years of Martian history in the sediments exposed in the mountain. MAHLI has an 18.3 to 21.3 mm (0.72 to 0.84 in) focal length and a 33.8–38.5° field of view. Curiosity is the largest, most capable rover ever to be sent to Mars. At the start of March, NASA ’s Curiosity Mars rover began approaching an impressive rock formation that scientists dubbed “Mont Mercou,” a nickname taken from a mountain in France. [115] Each camera in a pair is hardlinked to one of two identical main computers for redundancy; only four out of the eight cameras are in use at any one time. MSL debris field - parachute landed 615 m from Curiosity (3-D: rover and parachute) (17 August 2012; MRO). [98], The rover has two pairs of black and white navigation cameras mounted on the mast to support ground navigation. … Curiosity's landing ellipse. [98] The first initial laser testing of the ChemCam by Curiosity on Mars was performed on a rock, N165 ("Coronation" rock), near Bradbury Landing on 19 August 2012. [29] It is the fourth NASA robotic rover sent to Mars since 1996. There was a problem. NASA's Mars Odyssey acts as a communications relay for Curiosity and Opportunity, while also performing science of its own – such as searching for water ice. [146], Two of the five devices are in-situ or contact instruments known as the X-ray spectrometer (APXS), and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI camera). [149] On 1 December 2016, the motor inside the drill caused a malfunction that prevented the rover from moving its robotic arm and driving to another location. The RMI resolves 1 mm (0.039 in) objects at 10 m (33 ft) distance, and has a field of view covering 20 cm (7.9 in) at that distance. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC aboard the MSL spacecraft and landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. As established by the Mars Exploration Program, the main scientific goals of the MSL mission are to help determine whether Mars could ever have supported life, as well as determining the role of water, and to study the climate and geology of Mars. The NASA website momentarily became unavailable from the overwhelming number of people visiting it,[155] and a 13-minute NASA excerpt of the landings on its YouTube channel was halted an hour after the landing by an automated DMCA takedown notice from Scripps Local News, which prevented access for several hours. ", NASA pioneered a new drilling technique at Mount Sharp in February 2015 to begin operations at a lower setting, a requirement for working with the soft rock in some of the region. Curiosity's ongoing mission is to study the ancient habitability and the potential for life on Mars. Arm reach: About 7 feet (2.2 meters) Mass/Weight After 7 minutes of descent, the Curiosity rover is deposited just 2.4 kilometers from the center of the ellipse planned by NASA. Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer. NASA's Curiosity rover captured its highest-resolution panorama of the Martian surface in late 2019. Curiosity's landing site is on Aeolis Palus near Mount Sharp (north is down). Spectrometers to better characterize the composition of minerals on the Martian surface: Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam), Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin), and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite. "We always expected we would get some holes in the wheels as we drove. The main box-like chassis forms the Warm Electronics Box (WEB). Huge NASA Rover Lands on Mars", "NASA Mars Rover Begins Driving at Bradbury Landing", "Impressive' Curiosity landing only 1.5 miles off, NASA says", "Mars Science Laboratory: Mission Science Goals", "Curiosity's mission extended indefinitely", "Five Years Ago and 154 Million Miles Away: Touchdown! [141], The rover has a 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) long robotic arm with a cross-shaped turret holding five devices that can spin through a 350° turning range. Starting with the Sojourner rover, launched in 1996, NASA has sent four robotic rovers to the Red Planet. Ejected heat shield as viewed by Curiosity descending to Martian surface (6 August 2012). Some of these changes occur when the winter carbon-dioxide polar caps melt in the spring, dumping huge amounts of moisture into the air. Rock core sampling. [162], Prior to the landing, NASA and Microsoft released Mars Rover Landing, a free downloadable game on Xbox Live that uses Kinect to capture body motions, which allows users to simulate the landing sequence. [126][127], The SAM instrument suite analyzes organics and gases from both atmospheric and solid samples. It can identify and quantify the abundance of the minerals on Mars. … Opportunity was initially designed for a 90-day mission, but remains active after more than 14 years on Mars. 00 $25.48 $25.48. Along the way, it also has found extensive evidence of past water and geological change. Curiosity also made the first definitive identification of organics on Mars, as announced in December 2014. [149] By 9 December 2016, driving and robotic arm operations were cleared to continue, but drilling remained suspended indefinitely. [98][99][100] The flight model of the mast unit was delivered from the French CNES to Los Alamos National Laboratory. Perhaps one of the biggest upgrades to the rover is its ability to collect samples. Determine whether life ever arose on Mars. [83][84], The general sample analysis strategy begins with high-resolution cameras to look for features of interest. NASA personnel tensely watched the rover's descent on live television. Gale crater - surface materials (false colors; THEMIS; 2001 Mars Odyssey). It is about the size of a small SUV. [134][135], The DAN instrument employs a neutron source and detector for measuring the quantity and depth of hydrogen or ice and water at or near the Martian surface. [67][68][69][70] The landing site coordinates are: 4°35′22″S 137°26′30″E / 4.5895°S 137.4417°E / -4.5895; 137.4417. [104] Detection of the ball of luminous plasma is done in the visible, near-UV and near-infrared ranges, between 240 nm and 800 nm. This helps it to roll over rocks and sand without getting stuck. (900 kilograms). [101] The purpose of the LIBS instrument is to provide elemental compositions of rock and soil, while the RMI gives ChemCam scientists high-resolution images of the sampling areas of the rocks and soil that LIBS targets. Length: 9 feet, 10 inches (3.0 meters) (not counting arm); width: 9 feet, 1 inch (2.8 meters); height at top of mast: 7 feet (2.1 meters); arm length: 7 feet (2.1 meters); wheel diameter: 20 inches (0.5 meter) Mass: 8,463 pounds (3,893 kilograms) total at launch, consisting of. In September 2014, Curiosity arrived at its science destination, Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) shortly after a NASA science review said the rover should do less driving and more searching for habitable destinations. The Curiosity rover, which has the size of a car, is then suspended under a platform itself levitating with rockets, on a planet tens of millions of kilometers from the Earth. A lot, it turns out. The dark rock in inset is the same size as Curiosity. Unlike the Mars rover Opportunity, Curiosity is still functional and is the only active rover on Mars right now. Rover name: Curiosity rover. That's the surprise we got back at the end of last year," said Jim Erickson, Curiosity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, in a July 2014 interview. NASA's Curiosity rover took its first test stroll Wednesday Aug. 22, 2012, and beamed back pictures of its accomplishment in the form of track marks in the Martian soil. Curiosity had a dangerous computer glitch just six months after landing that put the rover within only an hour of losing contact with Earth forever, NASA revealed in 2017. "[17] Curiosity's rover design serves as the basis for NASA's 2021 Perseverance mission, which carries different scientific instruments. [20] The region it is set to explore has been compared to the Four Corners region of the North American west. (29,480 kg) to break the spacecraft's fall to the surface. NASA officials said the parachute would need to withstand 65,000 lbs. So let’s look at the changes that make Perseverance heavier. Falling at 1.5 mph (2.4 kph), MSL gently touched the ground in Gale Crater about the same moment the skycrane severed the link and flew away, crashing into the surface. The investigative team is led by Javier Gómez-Elvira of the Spanish Astrobiology Center and includes the Finnish Meteorological Institute as a partner. Dimensions: Curiosity has a mass of 899 kg (1,982 lb) including 80 kg (180 lb) of scientific instruments. In June 2017, NASA announced Curiosity had a new software upgrade that would allow it to pick targets by itself. It consists of instruments developed by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Laboratoire Inter-Universitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA) (jointly operated by France's CNRS and Parisian universities), and Honeybee Robotics, along with many additional external partners. [113][114] All sensors are located around three elements: two booms attached to the rover's mast, the Ultraviolet Sensor (UVS) assembly located on the rover top deck, and the Instrument Control Unit (ICU) inside the rover body. What do birds have to do with stargazing? Curiosity is about 3 metres (10 feet) long and weighs about 900 kg (2,000 pounds), which makes it the longest and heaviest rover on Mars. It also found past evidence of water while exploring the plains and two large craters. A mission with 180 days flying to Mars, 500 days on the surface and 180 days heading back to Earth would create a dose of 1.01 sieverts, Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector determined. Curiosity is such a powerful force. [144][147] The drill carries two spare bits. These measurements have never been done before from the inside of a spacecraft in interplanetary space. NASA's Curiosity rover captured its highest-resolution panorama, including more than a thousand images and 1.8 billion pixels, of the Martian surface between November 24 and December 1, … News of the landing spread through traditional outlets, such as newspapers and television, as well as social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. The instrument consists of the detector element (DE) and a 14.1 MeV pulsing neutron generator (PNG). NASA robotic rover exploring the crater Gale on Mars, arrived in August 2012, First night-time pictures on Mars (white-light left/, Interactive 3D model of the rover (with extended arm), Missions are ordered by launch date. It's 10' (3m) long, 9' (2.7m) wide and 7' (2.2m) tall. Visit our corporate site. Environmental sensors to look at the current weather. While the Bayer filter reduces visible light throughput, all three colors are mostly transparent at wavelengths longer than 700 nm, and have minimal effect on such infrared observations. On November 26, 2011, NASA launched Curiosity, its most technologically advanced rover ever. Mount Sharp is visible in the background (MAHLI, 9 September 2012), Curiosity's tracks on first test drive (22 August 2012), after parking 6 m (20 ft) from original landing site[10], Comparison of color versions (raw, natural, white balance) of Aeolis Mons on Mars (23 August 2012), Curiosity's view of Aeolis Mons (9 August 2012; white-balanced image). The remaining three are associated with sample acquisition and sample preparation functions: a percussion drill; a brush; and mechanisms for scooping, sieving, and portioning samples of powdered rock and soil. Rover Designing A Mars Rover To Launch In 2020 The Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, is based on the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover configuration. The APXS science team includes members from the University of Guelph, the University of New Brunswick, the University of Western Ontario, NASA, the University of California, San Diego and Cornell University. [157] Bobak Ferdowsi, Flight Director for the landing, became an Internet meme and attained Twitter celebrity status, with 45,000 new followers subscribing to his Twitter account, due to his Mohawk hairstyle with yellow stars that he wore during the televised broadcast. It will capture high-resolution … Under the parachute, MSL let go of the bottom of its heat shield so that it could get a radar fix on the surface and figure out its altitude. Wind erosion then scoured out the sediments, leaving an isolated 5.5 km (3.4 mi) mountain, Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), at the center of the 154 km (96 mi) wide crater. And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com. Thank you for signing up to Space. There are multiple hypotheses for these features, but one possibility is they formed after salts concentrated in an evaporating water lake. Quad 51, called Yellowknife, marks the area where Curiosity actually landed. Scientists in particular are interested in measuring "secondary rays" or radiation that can generate lower-energy particles after it hits the gas molecules in the atmosphere. My version of NASA’s rover is all stones with stars of sea glass. [168], On 5 August 2017, NASA celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Curiosity rover mission landing, and related exploratory accomplishments, on the planet Mars. Curiosity has a twin rover used for testing and problem solving, MAGGIE (Mars Automated Giant Gizmo for Integrated Engineering), a vehicle system test bed (VSTB). This is the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS). The car-sized rover is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The descent stage then flew away to a crash landing, and the rover prepared itself to begin the science portion of the mission.[81]. Curiosity's prime mission is to determine if Mars is, or was, suitable for life. [133], The role of the Radiation assessment detector (RAD) instrument is to characterize the broad spectrum of radiation environment found inside the spacecraft during the cruise phase and while on Mars. [25][26][27] In comparison to Pancam on the Mars Exploration Rovers, the MastCam-34 has 1.25× higher spatial resolution and the MastCam-100 has 3.67× higher spatial resolution.[28]. [10] Gale, an estimated 3.5 to 3.8 billion-year-old impact crater, is hypothesized to have first been gradually filled in by sediments; first water-deposited, and then wind-deposited, possibly until it was completely covered. The mission was to last two years but was extended indefinitely. Mast head with ChemCam, MastCam-34, MastCam-100, NavCam. Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. [121] The paragonetic tephra from a Hawaiian cinder cone has been mined to create Martian regolith simulant for researchers to use since 1998. More surface missions are on the way shortly. [144], Since early 2015 the percussive mechanism in the drill that helps chisel into rock has had an intermittent electrical short. NASA's Curiosity rover was drilling into a curious rock when it accidentally cracked. It should be noted that Curiosity isn't working alone on the Red Planet. [139], MARDI was fixed to the lower front left corner of the body of Curiosity. [91][140] MARDI has a pixel scale of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) at 2 km (1.2 mi) to 1.5 mm (0.059 in) at 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and has a 90° circular field of view. Drilling for a sample is the last new activity for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which is using the car-size Curiosity rover to investigate whether an area within Mars' Gale Crater has ever offered an environment favorable for life. Researchers will then see if organics appear that were not supposed to be in the block. [89] The cameras can take true-color images at 1600×1200 pixels and up to 10 frames per second hardware-compressed video at 720p (1280×720). About 60 feet (18 m) above the surface, MSL's "skycrane" deployed. Curiosity's ongoing mission is to study the ancient habitability and the potential for life on Mars. As her prize, Ma won a trip to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, where she signed her name directly onto the rover as it was being assembled. MAHLI also has mechanical focusing in a range from infinite to millimeter distances. [93], The MastCam system provides multiple spectra and true-color imaging with two cameras. [115] The cameras have a 120° field of view and map the terrain at up to 3 m (9.8 ft) in front of the rover. You will receive a verification email shortly. [77][78][79][80] After the rover touched down it waited 2 seconds to confirm that it was on solid ground then fired several pyrotechnic fasteners activating cable cutters on the bridle to free itself from the spacecraft descent stage. [5][6][9] The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey. The round stone in the sky r [85][86][87] The MastCam, Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) cameras were developed by Malin Space Science Systems and they all share common design components, such as on-board digital image processing boxes, 1600 × 1200 charge-coupled device (CCDs), and an RGB Bayer pattern filter.