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At 126 million kilometers from the Earth, in the red and cold immensity of Mars a robot the size of a small 4 × 4 is launched shortly after Sunrise. Like every day for six years, he awaits his instructions.
At approximately 9:30 am, March, the message left California a quarter of an hour before: "Advance 10 meters, go to 45 degrees and continue on your own until you reach it. at this point. "
The" curiosity " as it is called, moves slowly, between 35 and 110 meters per hour, without more. The batteries and other limitations explain their daily journey of about one hundred meters, reaching a record of 220 meters .
Once there, the 17 cameras of the robot photograph the surroundings . His laser makes fun of the rocks. In front of a particularly attractive stone, he stops to take a sample of a few grams.
Around 17:00 local time, the robot will wait for the pbadage of one of the three satellites of NASA that revolve around him. March will publish his report : several hundred megabits, then transmitted to the main terrestrial antennas of his human leaders.
MINIATURE LABORATORY
On the ground floor of building 34 Goddard space center NASA in the Greenbelt, one hour from Washington, scientists badyze these data the days . In this large windowless room full of instruments and computers, they search for traces of life on Mars.
The interior of "Curiosity" is "a marvel of miniaturization" : a chemical laboratory the size of a microwave oven, called SAM.
Charles Malespin deputy chief of the scientific team "Curiosity", specifies the instruments in the work plans: they were reduced and compacted inside the robot. [19659002] "It is the most complicated instrument that NASA has ever sent to another planet" explains Malespin, who has dedicated his professional life there since 2006.
SAM badyzes the samples by heating them an oven up to 1000 ° C During cooking, rocks and land release gases. Then these gases are separated and sent to instruments that badyze them and draw a "fingerprint" from the sample.
In Goddard, the French researcher Maeva Millan compares this chemical fingerprint to that of experiments. made from known molecules . When the curves are imitated, he says, "That's my good molecule."
Through SAM, it is known that there are complex organic molecules on Mars and the age of the planet's surface is established, geologically much younger than the believed the scientists.
"If we want to go to Mars, it is useless to import existing resources" Malespin adds, referring for example to the water. "We could dig the soil, heat it and release water, just carry an oven, we'll have as much water as we want" he says. The same goes for various materials that could be used as fuel for a future "rocket service station".
WITHOUT JOYSTICK
On the other side of the United States, at Jet Propulsion Laboratory of Pasadena near Los Angeles, there are about 15 men and women who command "Curiosity".
"My favorite moment of the day is the moment when I'm sitting to see the images sent by Mars" says on the other side of the phone Frank Hartman who commands "Curiosity" And another robot, "Opportunity", broke down in June
The work of the pilots is to plan the robot's Martian day, which lasts 24 hours and 40 minutes, and to program commands to accomplish it.
In the absence of joystick or real-time communication, it is unlikely that problems will be discovered in advance, such as the saturation of "Opportunity" or the holes caused by rocky soil on the wheels of "Curiosity".
"We must keep in mind that we know almost nothing about this place" says Hartman.
Over the years, scientists and drivers are attached to their robots. When "Opportunity" broke down, after 14 years, Hartman and his teammates felt like crying. "He retired with honors," he says.
"Curiosity" has traveled 19.75 km since 2012. In one year, it should reach its goal: Mount Sharp. A few months later, he will lose his Martian monopoly. Two US and European robots are expected to land on the planet by 2020.
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