Editing Mars Science Laboratory (section)

== History ==
[[File:MSL-Cruise Stage Test.jpg|thumb|MSL's cruise stage being tested at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] near [[Pasadena]], California]]
The Mars Science Laboratory was recommended by United States National Research Council Decadal Survey committee as the top priority middle-class Mars mission in 2003.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/10432/new-frontiers-in-the-solar-system-an-integrated-exploration-strategy|title=New Frontiers in the Solar System: An Integrated Exploration Strategy|last=Council|first=National Research|date=2002-07-11|language=en|doi=10.17226/10432|isbn=978-0-309-08495-6}}</ref> NASA called for proposals for the rover's scientific instruments in April 2004,<ref name="Stathopoulos"/> and eight proposals were selected on December 14 of that year.<ref name=Stathopoulos/> Testing and design of components also began in late 2004, including [[Aerojet]]'s designing of a [[monopropellant]] engine with the ability to throttle from 15 to 100 percent thrust with a fixed propellant inlet pressure.<ref name=Stathopoulos/>

=== Cost overruns, delays, and launch ===
By November 2008 most hardware and software development was complete, and testing continued.<ref name="usra"/> At this point, cost overruns were approximately $400 million. In the attempts to meet the launch date, several instruments and a cache for samples were removed and other instruments and cameras were simplified to simplify testing and integration of the rover.<ref name=Air&Space/><ref name="universetoday"/> The next month, NASA delayed the launch to late 2011 because of inadequate testing time.<ref name="Next NASA Mars Mission Rescheduled For 2011"/><ref name="Mars Science Laboratory: the budgetary reasons behind its delay"/><ref name="thespacereview"/> Eventually the costs for developing the rover reached $2.47 billion, that for a rover that initially had been classified as a medium-cost mission with a maximum budget of $650 million, yet NASA still had to ask for an additional $82 million to meet the planned November launch. As of 2012, the project suffered an 84 percent overrun.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/gao-slams-jwst-msl-cost-overruns/|title=GAO Slams JWST, MSL Cost Overruns|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref>

MSL launched on an [[Atlas V]] rocket from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]] on November 26, 2011.<ref name="nasa3"/> On January 11, 2012, the spacecraft successfully refined its trajectory with a three-hour series of thruster-engine firings, advancing the rover's landing time by about 14 hours. When MSL was launched, the program's director was [[Doug McCuistion]] of NASA's [[Planetary Science Division]].<ref name="Doug McCuistion"/>

''Curiosity'' successfully landed in the [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]] at 05:17:57.3 UTC on August 6, 2012,<ref name="NASA-1"/><ref name="Space-20120806" /><ref name=Sol3/><ref name="SF1012012-07-06"/> and transmitted [[Hazcam]] images confirming orientation.<ref name="SF1012012-07-06"/> Due to the Mars-Earth distance at the time of landing and the [[speed of light|limited speed]] of radio signals, the landing was not registered on Earth for another 14 minutes.<ref name="SF1012012-07-06" /> The ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' sent a photograph of ''Curiosity'' descending under its parachute, taken by its [[HiRISE]] camera, during the landing procedure.

Six senior members of the ''Curiosity'' team presented a news conference a few hours after landing, they were: [[John M. Grunsfeld|John Grunsfeld]], NASA associate administrator; [[Charles Elachi]], director, JPL; [[Peter Theisinger]], MSL project manager; Richard Cook, MSL deputy project manager; [[Adam Steltzner]], MSL entry, descent and landing (EDL) lead; and [[John P. Grotzinger|John Grotzinger]], MSL project scientist.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVzfDZlEwaU  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/FVzfDZlEwaU| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Curiosity Rover Begins Mars Mission |author=NASA Television |publisher=YouTube |date=August 6, 2012 |access-date=August 14, 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

=== Naming ===
Between March 23 and 29, 2009, the general public ranked nine finalist rover names (Adventure, Amelia, Journey, Perception, Pursuit, Sunrise, Vision, Wonder, and Curiosity)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090326013016/http://marsrovername.jpl.nasa.gov/SubmitVoteForm/index.cfm The Finalists] (in alphabetical order).</ref> through a public poll on the NASA website.<ref name="MSLNameWebsite"/> On May 27, 2009, the winning name was announced to be ''Curiosity''. The name had been submitted in an essay contest by Clara Ma, a sixth-grader from Kansas.<ref name="MSLNameWebsite"/><ref name="MSLNamePressRelease"/><ref name="nasa2"/>

{{Blockquote|Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder.|author=Clara Ma|source=NASA/JPL Name the Rover contest}}

=== Landing site selection ===
[[File:Curiosity Cradled by Gale Crater.jpg|thumb|[[Aeolis Mons]] rises from the middle of [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]] – <span style="color:green;">Green dot</span> marks the [[Curiosity (rover)|''Curiosity'' rover]] landing site in [[Aeolis Palus]]<ref name="Gale Crater3"/><ref name=ellipse/> – North is down.]]
Over 60 landing sites were evaluated, and by July 2011 Gale crater was chosen. A primary goal when selecting the landing site was to identify a particular geologic environment, or set of environments, that would support microbial life. Planners looked for a site that could contribute to a wide variety of possible science objectives. They preferred a landing site with both morphologic and mineralogical evidence for past water. Furthermore, a site with spectra indicating multiple [[Mineral hydration|hydrated minerals]] was preferred; [[clay minerals]] and [[sulfate]] salts would constitute a rich site. [[Hematite]], other [[iron oxide]]s, sulfate minerals, [[silicate minerals]], [[Silicon dioxide|silica]], and possibly [[chloride]] minerals were suggested as possible substrates for [[fossil preservation]]. Indeed, all are known to facilitate the preservation of fossil morphologies and molecules on Earth.<ref name="MSL&nbsp;— Landing Sites Workshop"/> Difficult terrain was favored for finding evidence of livable conditions, but the rover must be able to safely reach the site and drive within it.<ref name="Survivor: Mars&nbsp;— Seven Possible MSL Landing Sites"/>

Engineering constraints called for a landing site less than 45° from the Martian equator, and less than 1&nbsp;km above the reference [[geodetic datum|datum]].<ref name="nasa9"/>  At the first MSL Landing Site workshop, 33 potential landing sites were identified.<ref name="MSL Workshop Summary"/> By the end of the second workshop in late 2007, the list was reduced to six;<ref name="Second MSL Landing Site Workshop"/><ref name="Reconnaissance of MSL Sites"/> in November 2008, project leaders at a third workshop reduced the list to these four landing sites:<ref name="Site List Narrows For NASA's Next Mars Landing"/><ref name="Current MSL Landing Sites"/><ref name="Looking at Landing Sites for the Mars Science Laboratory"/><ref name="ISStD"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Location
! Elevation
! Notes
|-
| [[Eberswalde (crater)|Eberswalde Crater]] Delta || {{Coord|23.86|S|326.73|E|globe:mars}} || {{convert|-1450|m|ft|abbr=on}} || Ancient river delta.<ref name="nasa10"/>
|-
| [[Holden (Martian crater)|Holden Crater]] Fan || {{Coord|26.37|S|325.10|E|globe:mars}} || {{convert|-1940|m|ft|abbr=on}} || Dry lake bed.<ref name="nasa11"/>
|- style="background:#cfc;"
| [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]] || {{Coord|4.49|S|137.42|E|globe:mars}} || {{convert|-4451|m|ft|abbr=on}}|| Features {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} tall mountain <br/> of layered material near center.<ref name="nasa12"/> Selected.<ref name="Gale Crater3"/>
|-
| [[Mawrth Vallis]] Site 2 || {{Coord|24.01|N|341.03|E|globe:mars}} || {{convert|-2246|m|ft|abbr=on}} || Channel carved by catastrophic floods.<ref name="nasa13"/>
|}

A fourth landing site workshop was held in late September 2010,<ref name="nasa14"/> and the fifth and final workshop May 16–18, 2011.<ref name="marstoday"/> On July 22, 2011, it was announced that [[Gale (crater)|Gale Crater]] had been selected as the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory mission.