NASA Rover May Climb 5-kilometer-high Martian Mountain

摘要

The Nasa rover en route to Mars is a rolling chemistry and geology laboratory, but it may prove to be an expert mountain climber as well.The car-size Curiosity rover's mission is to assess whether the red planet is, or ever was, capable of supporting microbial life. In the course of its duties, Curiosity could end up at the summit of a 5-kilometer mountain near its landing site, provided it keeps chugging for long enough, researchers said."We think the slopes are gentle enough that if you took an appropriately circuitous route, you could make it to the top of the mound," John Grotzinger, the California Institute of Technology-based project scientist for the $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, told reporters during a briefing four days before the spacecraft's Nov. 26 liftoff. "But that's way into the future."