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Curiosity makes maiden move on Mars
Thursday August 23, 2012 11:01:37 AM,
IANS
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Los Angeles: Mars rover Curiosity has made its first
move on the Red Planet, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
said.
Curiosity's maiden drive combined forward, turn and reverse
segments. This placed the rover roughly 20 feet (six meters) from
the spot where it landed 16 days ago, according to JPL in
Pasadena, California, Xinhua reported.
Rover driver Matt Heverly said the first drive took about 16
minutes with most of the time used to take pictures, adding that
the wheels did not sink much into the ground, which is a good sign
for the rover's mission.
"We should have smooth sailing ahead of us," he said.
The location where Curiosity touched down is now called Bradbury
Landing, a name selected by Curiosity's science team and approved
by NASA.
"Many of us and millions of other readers were inspired in our
lives by stories Ray Bradbury wrote to dream of the possibility of
life on Mars," said Michael Meyer, NASA's program scientist for
Curiosity.
Curiosity's first drive confirmed the health of the rover's
mobility system and produced the rover's first wheel tracks on
Mars, documented in images taken after the drive.
At a news conference at JPL, Heverly showed an animation derived
from visualisation software used for planning the first drive.
"We have a fully functioning mobility system with lots of amazing
exploration ahead," he said.
Curiosity will spend several more days in working beside Bradbury
Landing, performing instrument checks and studying the
surroundings before embarking on its long haul towards a
destination approximately 1,300 feet to the east-southeast.
Curiosity's short drive came a day after the rover successfully
wiggled its wheels to test its steering capabilities.
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater near the Martian equator on Aug 5
to explore whether the environment once supported microbial life.
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