NASA’s Mars Curiosity: 11 things you may not know

A multibillion dollar gamble, a most scary landing and possibly learning whether Mars once could have supported life — briefly, that’s what’s at stake in NASA’s Mars Curiosity mission, which touched down to cheers early Monday. Mars is a difficult place to get to — only about a third of the 44 missions there have succeeded. Curiosity is the most ambitious and complex Mars mission ever conceived, writes Marc Kaufman, author of “First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth.’’

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1. All the chips are riding on this

In this stripped-down economic time, the $2.5 billion mission could become the last of its kind if something goes wrong. Or it could send back such compelling information and pictures that the public demands more Mars exploration, and Congress and the White House have to respond. Before you bet, know that only six of more than a dozen spacecraft that have reached Mars actually landed successfully and completed their missions. (Left, Curiosity launches on Nov. 26 from Cape Canaveral.)

/ United Launch Alliance

2. The scariest seven minutes

Why did scientists worry about Curiosity's arrival? The descent module went from 13,200 mph to 0 in 6 1/2 minutes. NASA used innovations tested separately before, but never together. For instance, the untried "'sky crane'' maneuver is dropped the rover, gently, the last 60 feet from a "descent module'' hovering like a helicopter. (Left, an artist's concept of NASA's spacecraft approaching Mars.)

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

3. Is NASA looking for Martians?

No. Nor tiny moving animals or insects. The missions wants to see if the planet has the carbon-based compounds that are the building blocks of life. It will also look for habitats that might once have supported life. But it is not a "life-detection" mission like the Viking landers before it.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

4. Curiosity continues the Viking landers 1976 mission

The Viking landers were the first to successfully land on Mars, and their goal was to determine whether the planet could support life. The official conclusion? No, it could not. Each Viking landed on a cold, desert plain, and both did not find organic material. No organics, no life, the thinking went. Yet one experiment, which added a radioactive tracer to nutrients deposited into a Viking-scooped soil sample, did get positive results. The experiment's principal investigator, Gilbert Levin, is still fighting to convince NASA and other scientists that the experiment did succeed -- and life was present. Some accept his findings; most do not. (Left, the NASA Viking Lander is pictured in a Mars simulation laboratory.)

/ AP

5. Why did it take more than 35 years for NASA to return?

The Viking findings were fascinating, but they made clear that NASA did not have the knowledge or equipment to rigorously search for life or its building blocks on Mars. The field of astrobiology -- more generally, the search for life beyond Earth -- went into eclipse for decades, but was rejuvenated by a series of discoveries beginning in the mid-1990s. Now astrobiology is central to what NASA does. The Curiosity instrument that will do the heavy lifting in searching for organics is the gold-plated Sample Analysis on Mars, and is generally described as the most sophisticated instrument ever sent to another planet. (Left, Curiosity before launch at Kennedy Space Center.)

Jim Grossmann / NASA

6. Curiosity is the largest object made by humans to land on Mars.

The rover is roughly three times heavier than the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. It's twice as large. It carries 10 instruments (the previous twins had five each), and the Curiosity insturments together weigh 165 pounds compared with 11 pounds for Spirit and Opportunity. Curiosity's heavier weight prompted the high-risk, high-stakes landing. (Left, a test drive of a Curiosity stand-in in California's Mojave Desert.)

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

7. The mission won't “follow the water” but will “follow the carbon”

The water-on-Mars issue is settled. The Curiosity landing site, Gale Crater, is known to have been covered in water billions of years ago because of the presence of clays and minerals which can only be formed in the presence of water. Satellites that orbit Mars have sent back images that clearly show dried river beds, large dried deltas and even tantalizing glimpses of what might be liquid water running down cliffs during summer. The next question: Does Mars have the carbon-based organics needed for life?

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

8. Curiosity should keep on ticking

Although the rover's mission is scheduled for two years, NASA officials say its nuclear battery easily could last for a decade, powering movement of the one-ton rover and keeping it warm in the negative-100-degree nights. Previous Mars rovers used solar power; Curiosity was too big for that. A significant threat to a longer mission is financial: Will Congress and a future White House want to pay for Curiosity as many other NASA programs are being cut? (Left, a drawing of the Curiosity's payload.)

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

9. The rover can climb mountains

While the Spirit and Opportunity rovers went into small craters and up gentle slopes, Curiosity was designed for tougher things. It will touch down in Gale Crater's flatlands, but its real destination is Mount Sharp, which sits in the middle of the crater and rises three miles high. Named after planetary scientist Robert Sharp, the mountain has exposed rock faces that can be "read" to learn about the planet's history.

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

10. We'll know how much radiation hits Mars. Too much for humans?

A detector will register high-energy atomic and subatomic particles reaching Mars from the sun, distant supernovas and other sources. The radiation they create could be harmful to any microbes near the surface of Mars or to astronauts on a future Mars mission. (Left, the Curiosity's Radiation Assessment Detector.)

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech/SwRI

11. Curiosity can think for itself. Sort of.

Previous Mars rovers have decided how to avoid a rock in their way or steer clear of a steep decline. But some at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory speak of Curiosity's rudimentary "thinking,'' akin to a robot. Curiosity does not have what is formally considered artificial intelligence, but it can gather data and make decisions in a new way. Some of the rover drivers at JPL even worry that although they will know Curiosity's moves, they won't necessarily know how it decided to do them. The rover isn't about to go rogue, but it could provide some real decision-making surprises. (More information about Curiosity is at www.nasa.gov/msl and mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.)

/ NASA/JPL-CalTech

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

A police forensics officer investigates a crime scene where one man was killed in Woolwich, southeast London May 22, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his government's emergency Cobra security committee after the killing of a man in south London, his office said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Terrorism cited in London cleaver attack

Two assailants hacked to death a man reported to be a British soldier on a busy East London street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an apparent...

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Statues on display on the Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden in The Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 21, 2013 in London, England. The Chelsea Flower Show run by the RHS celebrates its 100th birthday this year. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Photos of the day

Chelsea Flower Show, face transplant in Poland, Oklahoma residents cope with tornado aftermath and more.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 21: Ken Marino, Erica Oyama, Ben Stiller, Chris Harrison, and Mike Rosenstein aceept the Webby Award for 'Burning Love' at the 17th Annual Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on May 21, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for The Webby Awards)

Eye on entertainment

Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Emma Stone, 2 Chainz, Tyrese Gibson, Susan Boyle and more.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 2 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'ETHIOPIA'S ANCIENT SALT TRAIL'
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Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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