Curiosity Rover Grows by Leaps and Bounds

Curiosity Rover Grows by Leaps and Bounds

Talk about a growth-spurt. In one week, Curiosity grew by approximately 1 meter (3.5
feet) when spacecraft technicians and engineers attached the rover's neck and head
(called the Remote Sensing Mast) to its body. At around 2 meters (about 7 feet) tall, the
next rover to Mars now stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Mounted on Curiosity's mast are two navigation cameras (Navcams), two mast cameras
(Mastcam), and the laser-carrying chemistry camera (ChemCam).

While it now has a good head on its shoulders, Curiosity's "eyes" (the Mastcam), have
been blindfolded in a protective silvery material. The Mastcam, containing two digital
cameras, will soon be unveiled, so engineers can test its picture-taking abilities.

Up next today (July 23), the towering rover will take its first baby steps: a slow roll on the
floor of the clean room where it's being built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif.  Watch Curiosity's progress live from the clean room on Ustream until
3:30 p.m. PDT today: http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl .

Learn more about Curiosity at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .

2010-245
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Astrocomet
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