Saturday, 26 November 2011

Curiosity

Image: Mars Science Laboratory launch


On the morning of Saturday November 26th, NASA's Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida around 10 a.m. ET. The Atlas 5 is an unmanned rocket carrying a six-wheeled, car-sized rover vehicle that will explore Mars. It is a $2.5 Billion US mission that will land on Mars in about 8 1/2 months after it travels roughly 570 million kilometres. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, nicknamed "Curiosity", is designed to collect samples of Martian rocks and soil and be able to analyze them on location.

This will be one of the largest NASA experiments ever and could answer the question that most people have thought about at least once - "are humans alone in the universe?" As children, we all grew up thinking about aliens and UFO's. We watched movies about aliens and heard stories of UFO's which all contributed to our imagination. After years of doubt and no signs of other life out there, I have given up believing in other life forms. If NASA is able to find traces of organic compounds on Mars, it will create new interest in exploring the universe for other life forms. I hope they are successful so my, and so many others childhood fantasies can continue.




NASA launches Mars-bound spacecraft

November 26th, 2011

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/11/26/mars-rover-liftoff.html

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