NASA Mars Rover Team Aims for Landing Closer to Prime Science Site

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. PHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

News release: 2012-168 June 11, 2012

NASA Mars Rover Team Aims for Landing Closer to Prime Science Site

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-168&cid=release_2012-168

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has narrowed the target for its most advanced Mars rover, Curiosity,
which will land on the Red Planet in August. The car-sized rover will arrive closer to its ultimate
destination for science operations, but also closer to the foot of a mountain slope that poses a landing
hazard.

"We're trimming the distance we'll have to drive after landing by almost half," said Pete Theisinger,
Mars Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
"That could get us to the mountain months earlier."

It was possible to adjust landing plans because of increased confidence in precision landing
technology aboard the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, which is carrying the Curiosity rover.
That spacecraft can aim closer without hitting Mount Sharp at the center of Gale crater. Rock layers
located in the mountain are the prime location for research with the rover.

Curiosity is scheduled to land at approximately 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5 (1:31 a.m. EDT, Aug. 6).
Following checkout operations, Curiosity will begin a two-year study of whether the landing vicinity
ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

Theisinger and other mission leaders described the target adjustment during an update to reporters on
Monday, June 11, about preparations for landing and for operating Curiosity on Mars.

The landing target ellipse had been approximately 12 miles wide and 16 miles long (20 kilometers by
25 kilometers). Continuing analysis of the new landing system's capabilities has allowed mission
planners to shrink the area to approximately 4 miles wide and 12 miles long (7 kilometers by 20
kilometers), assuming winds and other atmospheric conditions are as predicted.

Even with the smaller ellipse, Curiosity will be able to touch down at a safe distance from steep
slopes at the edge of Mount Sharp.

"We have been preparing for years for a successful landing by Curiosity, and all signs are good," said
Dave Lavery, Mars Science Laboratory program executive at NASA. "However, landing on Mars
always carries risks, so success is not guaranteed. Once on the ground we'll proceed carefully. We
have plenty of time since Curiosity is not as life-limited as the approximate 90-day missions like
NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers and the Phoenix lander."

Since the spacecraft was launched in November 2011, engineers have continued testing and
improving its landing software. Mars Science Laboratory will use an upgraded version of flight
software installed on its computers during the past two weeks. Additional upgrades for Mars surface
operations will be sent to the rover about a week after landing.

Other preparations include upgrades to the rover's software and understanding effects of debris
coming from the drill the rover will use to collect samples from rocks on Mars. Experiments at JPL
indicate that Teflon from the drill could mix with the powdered samples. Testing will continue past
landing with copies of the drill. The rover will deliver the samples to onboard instruments that can
identify mineral and chemical ingredients.

"The material from the drill could complicate, but will not prevent analysis of carbon content in rocks
by one of the rover's 10 instruments. There are workarounds," said John Grotzinger, the mission's
project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "Organic carbon compounds in
an environment are one prerequisite for life. We know meteorites deliver non-biological organic
carbon to Mars, but not whether it persists near the surface. We will be checking for that and for other
chemical and mineral clues about habitability."

Curiosity will be in good company as it nears landing. Two NASA Mars orbiters, along with a
European Space Agency orbiter, will be in position to listen to radio transmissions as Mars Science
Laboratory descends through Mars' atmosphere.

The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Curiosity
was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at:
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

For more information on the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl

-end-


To remove yourself from this mailing, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=clKYKhNQIcISJdN7F&s=iiIYL1MFKeJKL0MLJsG&m=9oLELTPzEcKLK5K

To remove yourself from all mailings from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, please go to http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=5oIKKWOoH5LELTMGE&s=iiIYL1MFKeJKL0MLJsG&m=9oLELTPzEcKLK5K