Watch NASA Build the Next Mars Rover | Wired Science | Wired.com

Watch NASA Build the Next Mars Rover | Wired Science | Wired.com


Space enthusiasts can now watch a Mars rover being built at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory thanks to a well-positioned webcam.

Curiosity is a large rover with six wheels about the size of a car, weighing in at more than 900 kilos. It is about twice as long and five times as heavy as NASA’s previous rovers Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2003. It is scheduled head to Mars at the tail end of 2011 and will land on the red planet in August 2012. There it will analyze dozens of samples drilled from rocks or scooped from the ground as it explores a great range than any previous Mars rover.

In addition to an on-board geology lab, Curiosity will have a rock-vaporizing laser called ChemCam, which will be able to remove thin layers of material from Martian rocks or soil targets up to nine meters away. It will have a spectrometer to identify the types of atoms excited by the beam and a telescope to capture detailed images of the area illuminated by the beam.