The Curiosity Mars Rover Is the Size of a Small SUV
NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars is about the size of a small SUV: 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall, not including its arm.
About the size of a small SUV. NASA gives Curiosity's size as 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall, not including the arm.
Explanation
Pictures from Mars give little sense of scale, so it is easy to imagine the rovers as small machines. Curiosity is not. NASA describes it as about the size of a small SUV: 10 feet long, 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall, not including the arm. The car-size rover is about as tall as a basketball player, and it uses a 7 foot-long arm to place tools close to rocks selected for study. The size has a purpose. According to NASA, Curiosity’s large size allows it to carry an advanced kit of 10 science instruments. Its tools include 17 cameras, a laser to vaporize and study small pinpoint spots of rock at a distance, and a drill to collect powdered rock samples. Curiosity has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since 2012.
Source and verification
- Source
- NASA Tier A
- Last verified
- Confidence
- 95 out of 100
- Verified by
- Ali Ahmad Chaudhry