By 
July 7th, 2015
Wear and tear on Mars.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover faces on-going wheel wear and tear as it continues its trek across the sandy and rock strewn Red Planet.
The car-sized Mars machinery has been on duty since landing on the planet in August 2012. Curiosity has six aluminum wheels, each with its own individual motor. The rover has a top speed on flat hard ground of a little over 1.5 inches (4 centimeters) per second.
But dealing with the rocky richness of martian landscape has become somewhat of an unanticipated wheel of misfortune.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on July 5, 2015, Sol 1035 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Back here on Earth, Mars Science Laboratory engineers are watching the wheels turn, keeping an eye on cracks and the length of cracks.
Go to my new Space.com story for the “hole” story at:
Wheel Worries: Mars Rover Curiosity Dealing With Damage
by Leonard David, Space.com’s Space Insider Columnist
July 06, 2015 02:00pm ET
http://www.space.com/29844-mars-rover-curiosity-wheel-damage.html
Posted in Space News
