NASA say that the new American Martian Curiosity is getting closer to the surface of the red planet and in August he will have to make it fit. According to experts, they will try to put the device as close as possible to the point of his initial research. Due to the fact that this point is close to the mountain area, landing promises to be a very difficult operation.

Pete Theisinger, project Manager of the Mars Science Laboratory at the jet propulsion Laboratory of NASA, says that initially Curiosity had to go considerably further from the mountains, but then he would have longer go to the place of beginning operations. Transfer landing site will allow the machine to start work on a few months earlier. In order to change the place of landing engineers have recently uploaded a new version of the software Curiosity and updated the software landing on Mars.

On Mars, the new device will join the probe Opportunity that works there for more than six years. Last year the unit-twin, Opportunity Spirit is permanently out of order.

NASA say that although the operation of planting and is extremely difficult, experts believe in its success.

In early April of this year Curiosity overcame half way to Mars, to reach the surface of Mars Curiosity got in early August. If all goes according to plan, then landing on Mars, the device should be in the Gale crater is the largest on Mars. In a huge funnel crater well observed deep layers of the Martian soil, revealing the geological history of the red planet. The device must be for a few months to go from 5 to 20 kilometers, and to perform a comprehensive analysis of Martian soil and the components of the atmosphere.

Space ship delivery, which flies Curiosity, equipped with an auxiliary rocket engine for control and more accurate landing that during the descent Rovers were not used.

On the surface of Mars, the equipment will be able to overcome obstacles to 75 centimeters in height. The maximum expected speed on rugged terrain will be 90 meters per hour with automatic navigation. The average velocity is assumed to be 30 meters per hour. It is expected that during the two-year mission MSL will be not less than 19 kilometers.

The design of the device is similar to that used previously platform with scientific instruments on six wheels, each of which has its own motor, and the front and two rear wheels will participate in the taxi that will allow the machine to spin 360 degrees, while remaining on the spot. He is three times heavier than the previous Rovers and cost 2.3 billion dollars. On Curiosity instead of solar cells as an energy source will be used RTGs, eliminating the problem of dust solar panels and downtime of the machine at night. Selected RTGs new generation able to supply the Rover energy for 14 years, experts say.

The spacecraft consists of three modules - migratory, boarding and Rover-Rover. The mass of the spacecraft and 3.4 tonnes of Rover - 930 kg, the weight of the scientific equipment installed on the Rover, - 80 kg