Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover PDF Author: Markus Motum
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 1536242292
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
“A handsome and engaging children’s book. . . . This accessible look at interplanetary exploration will appeal to a broad range of young space enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) On August 6, 2012, the rover Curiosity touched down on the rocky surface of Mars—and now she’s ready to guide you through her journey. From idea to creation and beyond, this fact-filled, stylish book introduces readers to Curiosity and her mission: to discover more about the red planet and search for evidence of life. How did Curiosity get her name? What tools does she use to carry out her tasks? The popular NASA rover narrates how and why she traveled more than 350,000,000 miles to explore a planet no human has ever visited . . . and what she has been doing there for the past decade or so. Markus Motum brings Curiosity’s story to life in vivid color: the deep blues of space set off the warm, rusted hues of Mars’s dusty red surface, marking this lovable rover and her mission as something special—truly a world apart.

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover

Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover PDF Author: Markus Motum
Publisher: Candlewick Press
ISBN: 1536242292
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 56

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A handsome and engaging children’s book. . . . This accessible look at interplanetary exploration will appeal to a broad range of young space enthusiasts.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) On August 6, 2012, the rover Curiosity touched down on the rocky surface of Mars—and now she’s ready to guide you through her journey. From idea to creation and beyond, this fact-filled, stylish book introduces readers to Curiosity and her mission: to discover more about the red planet and search for evidence of life. How did Curiosity get her name? What tools does she use to carry out her tasks? The popular NASA rover narrates how and why she traveled more than 350,000,000 miles to explore a planet no human has ever visited . . . and what she has been doing there for the past decade or so. Markus Motum brings Curiosity’s story to life in vivid color: the deep blues of space set off the warm, rusted hues of Mars’s dusty red surface, marking this lovable rover and her mission as something special—truly a world apart.

The Mighty Mars Rovers

The Mighty Mars Rovers PDF Author: Elizabeth Rusch
Publisher: Turtleback Books
ISBN: 9780606398121
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
On June 10, 2003, a little rover named Spirit blasted off on a rocket headed for Mars. On July 7, 2003, a twin rover named Opportunity soared through the solar system with the same mission: to find out if Mars ever had water that could have supported life.A thrilling addition to the acclaimed Scientists in the Field series, The Mighty Mars Rovers tells the greatest space robot adventure of all time through the eyes and heart of Steven Squyres, professor of astronomy at Cornell University and lead scientist on the mission. This suspenseful page-turner captures the hair-raising human emotions felt during the adventures with two tough rovers."

The Design and Engineering of Curiosity

The Design and Engineering of Curiosity PDF Author: Emily Lakdawalla
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331968146X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
This book describes the most complex machine ever sent to another planet: Curiosity. It is a one-ton robot with two brains, seventeen cameras, six wheels, nuclear power, and a laser beam on its head. No one human understands how all of its systems and instruments work. This essential reference to the Curiosity mission explains the engineering behind every system on the rover, from its rocket-powered jetpack to its radioisotope thermoelectric generator to its fiendishly complex sample handling system. Its lavishly illustrated text explains how all the instruments work -- its cameras, spectrometers, sample-cooking oven, and weather station -- and describes the instruments' abilities and limitations. It tells you how the systems have functioned on Mars, and how scientists and engineers have worked around problems developed on a faraway planet: holey wheels and broken focus lasers. And it explains the grueling mission operations schedule that keeps the rover working day in and day out.

Seeing Like a Rover

Seeing Like a Rover PDF Author: Janet Vertesi
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022615601X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
In the years since the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and Opportunity first began transmitting images from the surface of Mars, we have become familiar with the harsh, rocky, rusty-red Martian landscape. But those images are much less straightforward than they may seem to a layperson: each one is the result of a complicated set of decisions and processes involving the large team behind the Rovers. With Seeing Like a Rover, Janet Vertesi takes us behind the scenes to reveal the work that goes into creating our knowledge of Mars. Every photograph that the Rovers take, she shows, must be processed, manipulated, and interpreted—and all that comes after team members negotiate with each other about what they should even be taking photographs of in the first place. Vertesi’s account of the inspiringly successful Rover project reveals science in action, a world where digital processing uncovers scientific truths, where images are used to craft consensus, and where team members develop an uncanny intimacy with the sensory apparatus of a robot that is millions of miles away. Ultimately, Vertesi shows, every image taken by the Mars Rovers is not merely a picture of Mars—it’s a portrait of the whole Rover team, as well.

Working on Mars

Working on Mars PDF Author: William J. Clancey
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026201775X
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Beginning in 2004, a team of geologists and other planetary scientists did field science in a dark room in Pasadena, exploring Mars from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) by means of the remotely operated Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Clustered around monitors, living on Mars time, painstakingly plotting each movement of the rovers and their tools, sensors, and cameras, these scientists reported that they felt as if they were on Mars themselves, doing field science. The MER created a virtual experience of being on Mars. This book examines how the MER has changed the nature of planetary field science. NASA cast the rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, as "robotic geologists," and ascribed machine initiative to remotely controlled actions. Clancey argues that the actual explorers were not the rovers but the scientists, who imaginatively projected themselves into the body of the machine to conduct the first overland expedition of another planet. The author investigates how the design of the rover mission enables field science on Mars, explaining how the scientists and rover engineers manipulate the vehicle and why the programmable tools and analytic instruments work so well for them.

Mars Rovers (A True Book: Space Exploration)

Mars Rovers (A True Book: Space Exploration) PDF Author: Jessica Cohn
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 1338825909
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
From the first time a person looked up at the sky and wondered "What's out there?" humans have dreamed about exploring the cosmos. For so long, our neighbor in the solar system has been shrouded in mystery. Was there ever life on Mars? How can we enable astronauts to land on that planet-and return safely? Mars rovers, including the latest:Perseverance, may just provide the answers! They might even tell us if humans can live on Mars one day! Share in the joy of exploration and discovery with Mars Rovers. ABOUT THE SERIES: This book is part of A True Book series, Space Exploration, that includes the titles Human Missions to Outer Space, Mars Rovers, The International Space Station, and UFO's. The series features the latest NASA imagery and lively text to bring the wonder of space exploration directly to readers.

Red Rover

Red Rover PDF Author: Roger Wiens
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465051995
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
For centuries humankind has fantasized about life on Mars, whether it’s intelligent Martian life invading our planet (immortalized in H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds) or humanity colonizing Mars (the late Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles). The Red Planet’s proximity and likeness to Earth make it a magnet for our collective imagination. Yet the question of whether life exists on Mars—or has ever existed there—remains an open one. Science has not caught up to science fiction—at least not yet. This summer we will be one step closer to finding the answer. On August 5th, Curiosity—a one-ton, Mini Cooper-sized nuclear-powered rover—is scheduled to land on Mars, with the primary mission of determining whether the red planet has ever been physically capable of supporting life. In Getting to Mars, Roger Wiens, the principal investigator for the ChemCam instrument on the rover—the main tool for measuring Mars’s past habitability—will tell the unlikely story of the development of this payload and rover now blasting towards a planet 354 million miles from Earth. ChemCam (short for Chemistry and Camera) is an instrument onboard the Curiosity designed to vaporize and measure the chemical makeup of Martian rocks. Different elements give off uniquely colored light when zapped with a laser; the light is then read by the instrument’s spectrometer and identified. The idea is to use ChemCam to detect life-supporting elements such as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen to evaluate whether conditions on Mars have ever been favorable for microbial life. This is not only an inside story about sending fantastic lasers to Mars, however. It’s the story of a new era in space exploration. Starting with NASA’s introduction of the Discovery Program in 1992, smaller, scrappier, more nimble missions won out as behemoth manned projects went extinct. This strategic shift presented huge opportunities—but also presented huge risks for shutdown and failure. And as Wiens recounts, his project came close to being closed down on numerous occasions. Getting to Mars is the inspiring account of how Wiens and his team overcame incredible challenges—logistical, financial, and political—to successfully launch a rover in an effort to answer the eternal question: is there life on Mars?

Mars Rover Curiosity

Mars Rover Curiosity PDF Author: Rob Manning (Engineer)
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781588344731
Category : Jet Propulsion Laboratory (U.S.)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Mars Rover Curiosity: An Inside Account from Curiosity's Chief Engineer, Rob Manning, the project's chief engineer, tells of bringing the groundbreaking spacecraft to life. Manning and his team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, tasked with designing a lander many times larger and more complex than any before, faced technical setbacks, fights over inadequate resources, and the challenges of leading an army of brilliant, passionate, and often frustrated experts.

Mars Exploration Rovers

Mars Exploration Rovers PDF Author: Steve Kortenkamp
Publisher: Capstone
ISBN: 1491481064
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 113

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Book Description
"Explores various perspectives on exploration of Mars by rovers. The reader's choices reveal the historical details"--

Rover Throws a Party

Rover Throws a Party PDF Author: Kristin L. Gray
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 0525646485
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 41

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Book Description
Inspired by NASA's Curiosity rover, this is the story of a lonely Mars rover who plans the best birthday party in the solar system. It's Rover's anniversary on Mars! Time to celebrate by throwing the best party this planet has ever seen. Rover hands out invitations all over town, but it seems like he's the only one around. Will anyone come to the party, or will Rover be all alone on his big day? In 2013, NASA programmed their Curiosity rover to hum "Happy Birthday to You" in honor of its first year on Mars. Inspired by this anecdote, this is the tale of a lonely rover and his party, accompanied by fascinating Mars rover facts that help explain the real science behind the story. This fun birthday tale provides an accessible, kid-friendly look at one of NASA's coolest programs.