Curiosity

     In recent weeks there was quite the buzz about a little Rover that found its way to Mars. The rover was call the MSL, or Mars Science Laboratory, but was more commonly known as Curiosity. It was launched in August of last year (2011) and touched down August 6 at 1:32 a.m. 

     The rover really is an amazing piece of machinery. At about the size of a small car, it's nearly twice as large, and carries twice as much equipment, as its predecessors Spirit and Opportunity. Another cool feature: Curiosity is nuclear. Unlike past rovers, which relied on solar cells, making them useless in the night or long Martian winter, this rover is powered by the decay of a small amount of plutonium which produces about 110 watts of constant electricity and heat used to warm some of the rovers systems.

     Curiosity's main mission is to study Mars, but its secondary goal is to assess the possibility of human settlement of the Red Planet. The data it collects will be of use to NASA if and when we ever reach that point, though its more likely to be of use to private companies who can put a man on Mars a lot faster than NASA can.

     Another thing of particular interest with this rover was its popularity. For several weeks leading up to its landing it was hard to find a news channel that didn't have at least one segment on it every day. The actual entry and landing (shown in the video) was streamed live on almost every major network, and even Microsoft's Xbox 360 offered a live feed from the command center. The day after the internet exploded with clever memes and comics about the landing. But where was all the hype when Juno or Kepler were launched? Even previous Mars missions didn't draw quite so much attention. 

     Perhaps it's a sign that the general public has reacquired some of its lost passion for exploration, and I really hope that's the case. NASA has really been lacking for public support in the past decade, and Curiosity could provide just the boost they need.