Скачать или смотреть Germany: Curiosity Mars rover excites science fans at CeBIT show

1. C/U Curiosity's MasterCam

2. C/U Instruments

3. M/S Model of Mars rover Curiosity

4. C/U Rover wheels

5. M/S Onlookers and model

6. C/U APXS and MAHLI devices

7. M/S Curiosity instruments

8. C/U Curiosity cables

9. C/U Showgoers

10. C/U A digital image of Curiosity

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Germany: Curiosity Mars rover excites science fans at CeBIT show

A third scale model of the NASA Mars rover Curiosity at the CeBIT tech show in Hannover drew scientists, experts and gawkers alike on Tuesday. The model provided onlookers with accurate technical details, as well as an informative video about Curiosity and its exploratory mission to Mars.

Built into the model were instruments including the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS), used to analyse the chemical composition of soil samples dug up by the rover, and the Mars hand lens imager (MAHLI) advanced close-up camera with a resolution of up to 13.9 micrometers per pixel.

Curiosity took off towards the red planet in November 2011 and landed on the surface of Mars at the Aeolis Palus in August of 2012. The 2.5 billion dollar (€1.9bn) project is set to help researchers determine if Mars ever hosted microbial life. After months of roving across the red planet, Curiosity sent back valuable data to NASA and its mission was extended indefinitely in December 2012.

On February 28 this year, Curiosity experienced problems with the flash memory on its primary computer. Mission control swapped Curiosity over to its backup computer, causing the rover to enter minimal-activity mode. NASA has since fixed the glitch and Curiosity is back to roving as usual.