Curiosity: The person(spacecraft) of the year.

It didn’t kill the cat.

Spacecraft of the year? Why

• I chose the mars rover Curiosity as my person of the year because I believe it to be the most important thing that happened this year. It was launched November, 26, 2011 and is now on it’s journey to reach the red planet. I think that it represents a step forward for humanity, rather that for just a individual nation.

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Obstacles and Resources

• The only real obstacle Curiosity has had to over come is a minor error in it’s trajectory as it heads toward mars. One correction has been made so far and another will be made in the coming month.

• A few of the resources that helped it along the way include Aluminum, Titanium, Silicon, Gold, and Copper as well as some other elements that are used in smaller quantities.

Technology

• Curiosity carries 10 science instruments, and its mass of equipment is 15 times as large as any prior rover. Some of the tools are the first of their kind on Mars, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking the elemental composition of rocks from a distance, and an X-ray diffraction instrument for definitive identification of minerals in powdered samples. So with these things all together one can see that this is the one of the most technologically advanced spacecraft, ever.

A secondary Picture

A tertiary picture

The final picture