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Project costed at $2.5bn; will see initial surface operations lasting two Earth years
Onboard plutonium generators will deliver heat and electricity for at least 14 years
75kg science payload more than 10 times as massive as those of earlier US Mars rovers
Equipped with tools to brush and drill into rocks, to scoop up, sort and sieve samples
Variety of analytical techniques to discern chemistry in rocks, soil and atmosphere
Will try to make first definitive identification of organic (carbon rich) compounds
Even carries a laser to zap rocks; beam will identify atomic elements in rocks
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer, NASA's Curiosity rover, rocketed toward Mars on Saturday on a search for evidence that the red planet might once have been home to itsy-bitsy life.
It will take 8½ months for Curiosity to reach Mars following a journey of 354 million miles.
An unmanned Atlas V rocket hoisted the rover, officially known as Mars Science Laboratory, into a cloudy late morning sky. A Mars frenzy gripped the launch site, with more than 13,000 guests jamming the space center for NASA's first launch to Earth's next-door neighbor in four years, and the first send-off of a Martian rover in eight years.
NASA astrobiologist Pan Conrad, whose carbon compound-seeking instrument is on the rover, had a shirt custom made for the occasion. Her bright blue, short-sleeve blouse was emblazoned with rockets, planets and the words, "Next stop Mars!"
Read the news here.
Additional
[video=youtube;_KLxmGLZQSY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLxmGLZQSY&feature=player_embedded[/video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KLxmGLZQSY&feature=player_embedded
