A long-range, long-duration roving vehicle designed to carry out scientific investigations on the surface of Mars. A NASA project, Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is scheduled for launch in the fall of 2011. Its mission is to determine the "habitability" of Mars, i.e., not primarily whether there is life on Mars (it is not a biology mission) but whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life.
MSL will also demonstrate the technology for "smart landers" with accurate landing and hazard avoidance in order to reach what may be very promising but difficult-to-reach scientific sites.
Arriving at Mars in 2012, Mars Science Laboratory will serve serve as a pioneer for the next decade of Mars exploration. It represents a huge step in Mars surface science and exploration capability because it will:
demonstrate the ability to land a very large, heavy rover to the surface of Mars (which could be used for a future Mars Sample Return mission that would collect rocks and soils and send them back to Earth for laboratory analysis)
demonstrate the ability to land more precisely in a 20-km (12.4-mile) landing circle
demonstrate long-range mobility on the surface of the red planet (5-20 km or about 3 to 12 miles) for the collection of more diverse samples and studies.
MSL is twice as long and three times the weight of the Mars Exploration Rovers and will be the first spacecraft to land on its wheels. Having descended most of the way through the martian atmosphere by parachute, MSL will be lowered to the ground by a Skycrane – a frame that carries propellant tanks, as well as two "outriggers" each equipped with a set of 700-pound-thrust rocket motors. This technique will allow MSL to reach sites, such as the floor of Valles Marineris (the great canyon system on Mars), that are inaccessible for present-day robotic explorers. Having maneuvered above a suitable landing spot, the Spaceframe will release the MSL, which will slide gently down a tether from a height of about 5 meters. On the ground it will deploy a suite of instruments with 10 times the mass of those carried by either Spirit or Opportunity and powered by a nuclear battery. MSL is expected to operate for at least one martian year, or roughly two Earth years.
