[English version below]
Cette série de cache vous permettra de partir à l’aventure avec la mission Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) menée par la NASA et ses collaborateurs pour explorer la planète rouge.
Vous allez, entre autres, découvrir que le Mont Mercou, sur lequel vous allez vous élancer, est beaucoup plus proche de la planète Mars que ce que l’on pense.
Il faut compter environ 1h pour effectuer l'ascension. Merci de respecter l’environnement, de rester sur les chemins, et de repartir avec vos déchets.
L’astromobile Curiosity a été assemblé et testé au sein du laboratoire « Jet Propulsion Laboratory » (JPL) de la NASA à Pasadena en Californie aux Etats Unis.
Après des mois de construction et de tests, l’astromobile nommé Curiosity a été désassemblé et empaqueté avec soin. Le matériel a été dans un premier temps mis en boite et transporté par camion jusqu’à March Air Reserve Base non loin de Riverside au Sud de la Californie.
De là, les composants du rover ont été chargés dans un Air Force C-17 pour être transporté au Kenedy Space Center sur la côte Est.
Les composants de l’astromobile sont tellement imposants que deux voyages ont été nécessaires. Le premier voyage comprend les aeroshell (les protections du rover) ainsi que le vaisseau qui le conduirait jusqu’à Mars. Le second voyage est composé quant à lui du rover, de l’étage de descente propulsé par fusée qui piloterait le rover pendant les derniers instants avant l’atterrissage sur Mars.
De nouveaux tests ont été effectués au Kenedy Space Center avant que les systèmes de propulsion embarqués soient alimentés.
Fini le rover pèse 899 kg.
[The Mars Science Laboratory's main "hub" was a cleanroom at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Various partners built and tested individual instruments at other locations. Teams needed to ensure that they delivered the best possible instrument to be mated with the body of the spacecraft. Eventually, all of the instruments traveled to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to be installed.
A vital stage for the mission was the assembly, test and launch operations phase. Following individual testing, instruments were shipped to the cleanroom and mated with the rover and spacecraft. As everything began to take shape, the entire structure was put through rigorous environmental, electronics, software and systems testing.
After months of building and testing the Curiosity rover, the rover and its cruise stage were disassembled and carefully packed for a cross-country trip – from its birthplace in California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for launch.
The hardware was first boxed and trucked from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to March Air Reserve Base in nearby Riverside. There the components were loaded onto an Air Force C-17 transport plane for the journey east.
The spacecraft components were so large that two trips were made. In May 2011, the rover's aeroshell — the protective covering for the trip to the Red Planet — and the cruise stage, which would guide it to Mars, arrived at Kennedy first. The following month, the rover itself made the flight, accompanied by the rocket-powered descent stage that would fly the rover during the final moments before landing on Mars.
The rover and other spacecraft components underwent more assembly and testing at Kennedy Space Center before mission staff stacked them and fueled the onboard propulsion systems.
Although arrival in Florida was a significant milestone for the mission, there was still considerable work to be done to prepare Curiosity for launch. A team of engineers and technicians spent countless hours in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility cleanroom at Kennedy Space Center reassembling the spacecraft and conducting even more tests.]