Robotic spacecraft
A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. In addition, some planetary destinations such as Venus or the vicinity of Jupiter are too hostile for human survival, given current technology. Outer planets such as Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are too distant to reach with current crewed spaceflight technology, so telerobotic probes are the only way to explore them.
Many artificial satellites are robotic spacecraft, as are many landers and rovers.
History
The first space mission, Sputnik 1, was an artificial satellite put into Earth orbit by the USSR on 4 October 1957. On 3 November 1957, the USSR orbited Sputnik 2, the first to carry a living animal into space – Laika, a dog.
Ten other countries have successfully launched orbital missions using their own vehicles: USA (1958), France (1965), Australia (1967), Japan and China (1970), the United Kingdom (1971), India(1980), Israel (1988), Iran (2009), and North Korea (2012).
Still curious?
Well, Curiosity is a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater
on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL).
Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26,
2011, at 10:02 EST aboard the MSL spacecraft and successfully landed on Aeolis
Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing
site was less than 2.4 km from the center of the rover's touchdown target after
a 563,000,000 km journey.
The rover's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate
and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater
has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life,
including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability
studies in preparation for future human exploration.
Curiosity's design will serve as the basis for a planned
Mars 2020 rover mission. In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was
extended indefinitely.
In April and early May 2013, Curiosity went into an
autonomous operation mode for approximately 25 days during Earth-Mars solar
conjunction. During this time, the rover continued to monitor atmospheric and
radiation data, but did not move on the Martian surface.
Check out the Panaramic View of Mars captured with the Curiosity Rover by pressing the Mars Nasa link in the top left side of the blogg.
