On August 5, 2012 NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity touched down—and six UCLA Anderson alumni breathed a sigh of relief. Allen Chen (FEMBA ’07), Keith Comeaux (EMBA ’08), Keith Naviaux (FEMBA ’98), Kelly Clarke (FEMBA ’02), Jeffery Favretto (FEMBA ‘09) and Saina Ghandchi (EMBA ‘13) all participated in some stage of Curiosity’s development, from design to touchdown. In fact, it was Chen’s voice you might have heard announce the mission’s first success, “Touchdown confirmed. We are safe on Mars,” he said.
It took nearly nine months of space travel to reach the Red Planet and begin its mission of scientific exploration. In the year since,
Curiosity has driven more than a mile, “beamed back more than 190 gigabits of
data, including 70,000 images (36,700 full images and 35,000 thumbnails), and
its laser has fired more than 75,000 times at 2,000 targets,” according to
NASA. It has also accomplished its “primary goal by determining that Mars has
evidence of ancient environments suitable for life.”
The rover is currently on its way to Mount Sharp, a three-mile-high mountain scientists hope can help shed more light on Martian history.
Look for expanded coverage of the Curiosity rover mission and the Anderson grads involved in Assets Digital in early September.
Check out NASA’s video overview of Curiosity’s first year.
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