Launchpad: Curiosity Goes to Mars
Find out why Curiosity is the best name for the largest rover ever sent to another planet. Learn about the challenges of landing on a planet with an atmosphere and the geology and chemistry questions scientists hope to answer with instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory. Since this production, Curiosity was successfully launched to Mars and is sending back data and images. Find out more here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/
Background Information
Grades 6 through 8
Grades 9 through 12
- Arizona State University (ASU) Mars Image Analysis
- Arizona State University (ASU) Marsbound! Mission to the Red Planet
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) CRISM: Following the Water on Mars, Past and Present
- NASA JPL Earth & Mars: As Different as They are Alike
- NASA JPL NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity
- University of Colorado, Boulder Marvelous Martian Minerology
Activities
Grades 9 through 12
- NASA Mars for Educators
- NASA Mars Science Laboratory
- NASA GISS/Columbia University Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability: Activity C; The Role of Actual Data in Mathematical Models
- NASA JPL NASA Curiosity Rover Detects No Methane on Mars
Mathematics
- NASA GISS/Columbia University Using Mathematical Models to Investigate Planetary Habitability: Activity B; Making a Simple Mathematical Model