Curiosity Mars rover takes first drive
Baku, August 27 (AZERTAC). The US space agency's (Nasa) Curiosity rover has finally begun to roll.
The Mars robot, which landed on the Red Planet two weeks ago, turned its six wheels briefly on Wednesday to satisfy engineers that its locomotion system was in full working order.
Curiosity is a sophisticated mobile science laboratory.
It has been built to drive at least 20km across the Martian landscape to investigate whether the planet ever had the conditions necessary for life.
Wednesday's drive saw the rover roll forward 4.5m, turn clockwise on the spot for about 120 degrees, and then reverse up 2.5m.
It took about five minutes to complete the manoeuvre. Another 10 minutes or so was spent taking pictures of the outcome, recording the vehicle's historic first tracks in the Martian soil.
Looking at those images, which have been stitched together to make the mosaic featured on this page, it is clear now that Curiosity's rear-right wheel landed on top of a rock estimated to be some 9cm tall.
The vehicle will cover a lot of ground on this mission but the significance of the first roll manoeuvre could not be overstated, said Curiosity project manager Pete Theisinger.
"It couldn't be more important. We built a rover and unless the rover roves, we really haven't accomplished anything," he told reporters.
"And the fact that we completely exercised it and everything was on track is a big moment."
Nasa has made one other key announcement on what has been the 16th day of this mission. It has named the spot on which the robot landed after the science fiction author Ray Bradbury.
The celebrated American writer, who died in June, was an enthusiastic supporter of the space agency.
"His books have truly inspired us," said Michael Meyer, the lead scientist on Nasa's Mars exploration programme. "The Martian Chronicles have inspired our curiosity and opened our minds to the possibility of life on Mars.
"In his honour, we declare the place that Curiosity touched down to be forever known as Bradbury Landing."
The rover is now pointing southwest in the general direction of Mount Sharp, the big mountain at the centre of Mars' equatorial Gale Crater.
Scientists expect to find rocks at the base of the peak that were laid down billions of years ago in the presence of abundant water.
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