NASA’s Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars more than a month ago, appears to be working “flawlessly” as it prepares to continue its two-year exploration of the Red Planet, the US space agency said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
For the past week, the rover, which touched down on August 6, has undergone a series of instrument tests, as well as a rebooting of its steering computers, and everything so far appears fine, according to officials with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.<\/p>\n
“Through every phase of the check-out, Curiosity has performed almost flawlessly,” said Jennifer Tropser, mission manager for Curiosity at the laboratory, adding that a final few tests would be done early Thursday.<\/p>\n
“The success so far of these activities has been outstanding,” she told reporters in a telephone briefing.<\/p>\n
Curiosity is on a mission to investigate whether it is possible to live on Mars and to learn whether conditions there might have been able to support life in the past.<\/p>\n
The rover last week temporarily halted its journey across the surface of Mars as it tested the tools on its robotic arm.<\/p>\n
It was forced for about a week to stay put in order to give technicians a chance to put its seven-foot (2.1-meter) robotic arm through a range of motions established during Earth testing.<\/p>\n
The goal was to figure out how the arm is functioning after the long space voyage and in the different gravity and temperatures on Mars.<\/p>\n
The arm and the soil sampling system are the last pieces of the massive rover to be put through testing, officials said.<\/p>\n
The $2.5 billion craft has covered 109 meters (357 feet) within the Gale crater since it began trundling eastward en route to its first major destination — an intersection called Glenelg.<\/p>\n
That site, located at a meeting point of three different types of terrain, is where NASA experts hope to find a first rock target for drilling and analysis.<\/p>\n
Space officials have said it will be a few more weeks before the rover is in place and ready to scoop up a sample of Martian soil.<\/p>\n
After Glenelg, Curiosity will continue on to its ultimate destination, the slopes of nearby Mount Sharp.<\/p>\n
The tech behind Curiosity<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Curiosity ready to test robotic arm<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n