In the night from Monday to Tuesday in Moscow, NASA experts and all Americans celebrated their cosmic victory. The Rover Curiosity gave the first more or less high-quality images of the red planet. A little later came the first color photo and video descent. What awaits "Curiosity" next?

Recall that the Rover has made a successful landing on Mars on Monday morning. All information about this event reached the mission control center at the jet propulsion Laboratory (JPL) about 9:30 a.m. Moscow time.

Scientists obtained the first images of the surface surrounding "Curiosity", but they were of poor quality, as the transmitting station disappeared from "field of view" Mars Rover.



Later, U.S. President Barack Obama has congratulated scientists on the successful completion of the most complicated stage of the mission. Then hosted the first press conference dedicated to the significant event. In America, by the time it was late at night. For this reason, the publication of images of higher quality was postponed to the next day.

On the eve of Curiosity Rover also conveyed to Earth the first color photo of the surface of the red planet.



In addition, became available video illustrating descent to the surface of Mars. NASA experts have gathered it from photos taken by the camera of Mars Descent Imager.



However, successful primirenie apparatus (event from a technical point of view a very complex) does not guarantee that the curiosity of American scientists will be satisfied. Each subsequent conversion operation of a space capsule in working Rover could mark the end of the mission. Such complex will work.



Communication with the Rover will carry out three orbital spacecraft to orbit the red planet: Mars Odyssey, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Another communication channel can be established through the Deep Space Network, a network of giant antenna dishes, located in Madrid, Canberra and the Mojave desert.

After Curiosity will be contacted, scientists will try to put into operation a small radioactive power source. The Rover has on Board 4.5 kilograms of plutonium-238, which is to nourish electronics, tools, and to warm the device during the cold Martian nights.

If all the major systems of the Rover will work fine, specialists gradually expanded, raschet necessary tools and camera Curiosity. This process can take several days, but in case of unforeseen circumstances a few weeks, or even months. All depends on how affected components "Curiosity" for 8 months of flight between Earth and Mars, and during difficult landing.

First, NASA experts will raise the mast Rover, which is a set of chambers, turn on the device that determine weather and radioactivity of the surrounding space, and a laser device that will be "fry" boulders, located at a distance of up to 7 meters, and explore gases, escaping from the Martian rocks in the heating process.

To 10 solu (days on Mars called salami, English "sol", duration - to 24.66 earthly hours) all ten tools "Curiosity" will be started.

Further Curiosity will make the first attempts of the movement, at first it will not driving, but actions similar to shake the man's feet.

To 30 solu will be tested by a two-meter hand-manipulator, which will collect samples of Martian soil, break them and send in two minilab SAM and CheMin.

In parallel, other scientists will determine the position of the Rover relatively walls 154 km Gale crater and five-kilometer peak Eolica, in its center.



The researchers then decide where to send his "Curiosity", which samples of stones collected, where the rock looks more interesting to do a more thorough study.
In case of successful completion of the second stage of Curiosity mission will have a two-year research work on the surface of the red planet. "Curiosity" will look in the Gale crater water (including by means of the device of the Russian production), as well as the possible traces of microbial life, such as compounds based on carbon that support life on Earth.

Two years is an official term, which is expected to specialists working in the framework of the project "the Mars science lab" (Mars Science Laboratory is another name for the mission to send the Rover on the surface of the red planet). However radioisotope thermoelectric generator of the Rover will be able to feed him for the past 12 years, and, as practice shows, research, is likely to continue.

"We have about 200-300 employees here at the jet propulsion Laboratory, and, I assure you, it will be very interesting. The first months we will be working 16 hours a day", says joy crisp (Joy Crisp), a member of the Mars Science Laboratory.