Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory
Okay kiddo, do you remember when we talked about sending a cool rover named Curiosity to Mars? Well, the Mars Science Laboratory was the mission that sent Curiosity there!
It all started a long time ago, in 2003 when NASA first started thinking about sending a new rover to Mars. They wanted to make sure it was a really good rover, so they worked on it for almost ten years before they launched it in 2011.
Now, Mars is really far away from Earth, so the rover had to travel for 8 months through space to get there. It was a long trip, but the mission scientists made sure it had everything it needed to be successful.
Finally, on August 5th, 2012, Curiosity made it to Mars! It was a really exciting day because everyone was waiting to see if it landed safely. But the engineers did a great job and it landed perfectly on the surface of the red planet.
Once it was on the ground, it started exploring the Martian surface, collecting samples, and taking pictures. It had a bunch of cool tools like a laser that could zap rocks to learn what they were made of, and even a drill that could take rock samples.
For the next few years, Curiosity kept exploring and sending back amazing data about Mars. It discovered that long ago, Mars might have had the right conditions for life to exist on it! This was really exciting news because it means there could be life on other planets too.
And now, almost a decade later, Curiosity is still exploring Mars! It's been sending back so much data and helping us learn more about the red planet. It's even paved the way for future missions to Mars. So, it's been a very busy and fruitful timeline for Mars Science Laboratory!
It all started a long time ago, in 2003 when NASA first started thinking about sending a new rover to Mars. They wanted to make sure it was a really good rover, so they worked on it for almost ten years before they launched it in 2011.
Now, Mars is really far away from Earth, so the rover had to travel for 8 months through space to get there. It was a long trip, but the mission scientists made sure it had everything it needed to be successful.
Finally, on August 5th, 2012, Curiosity made it to Mars! It was a really exciting day because everyone was waiting to see if it landed safely. But the engineers did a great job and it landed perfectly on the surface of the red planet.
Once it was on the ground, it started exploring the Martian surface, collecting samples, and taking pictures. It had a bunch of cool tools like a laser that could zap rocks to learn what they were made of, and even a drill that could take rock samples.
For the next few years, Curiosity kept exploring and sending back amazing data about Mars. It discovered that long ago, Mars might have had the right conditions for life to exist on it! This was really exciting news because it means there could be life on other planets too.
And now, almost a decade later, Curiosity is still exploring Mars! It's been sending back so much data and helping us learn more about the red planet. It's even paved the way for future missions to Mars. So, it's been a very busy and fruitful timeline for Mars Science Laboratory!