The successful landing of the Mars Rover Curiosity represented a triumph for NASA in particular and for space missions in general. It was the first time Curiosity’s complex landing system was actually used so there were serious risks that something could go wrong. The tension was very high during what were called the “seven minutes of terror” but eventually everything went well.
The Curiosity Mars Rover immediately showed it’s alive and well by sending a series of photographs, first at low resolution and then at higher resolution with one of his Hazcam (hazard avoidance camera). There was some criticism concerning the quality of these images because we’re now used to seeing astronomical photographs of outstanding quality. The ones taken by Curiosity were put on line very quickly as they are received while generally astronomical images are processed first.
The Mars Rover Curiosity landing was also followed by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, one of the space probes orbiting the red planet. With its HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) – calling it a camera is an understatement! – it captured images of Curiosity as it was coming down with the parachute open.
ESA has also participated in the landing with its Mars Express spacecraft, which recorded the signals from the Mars Rover Curiosity supporting the work of NASA. In the future, ESA has offered to help in case there are problems for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or the mars Odyssey, another NASA spacecraft, working as a radio relay for Curiosity.
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In the first celebratory speeches, the Mars Rover Curiosity landing has been called a great success for the U.S.A. but actually other countries have collaborated in its construction. Not only that, but on board of Curiosity there’s a digitized version of a Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait and some works of the great scientist and artist, including the “Codex on the Flight of Birds“, very appropriate for the occasion. This is a result of collaboration with the Italian Space Agency.
The Curiosity Mars Rover has cost about $2.5 billion. Some criticized this spending saying that there are much more important problems in the world and that money would be much more useful for solving them. Put very bluntly, those seem ignorant remarks because for example the military budget is vastly superior to that of all space missions combined.
The mission of the Mars Rover Curiosity on the red planet is just beginning but already represents a triumph of human ingenuity. Many comments in the media focused on the search for Martian life forms but its mission is much broader and the knowledge that it will provide could be vital in order to establish colonies on Mars someday.
