An Inside Look at Curiosity's Inner Workings

By Nancy Atkinson - September 09, 2012 04:21 PM UTC | Planetary Science

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What makes a rover rove? At the very basic level, it comes down to gears, and all the gears have to made very precisely: there's no going to Mars to fix anything that doesn't move just right. This video shows how a gear company in Rockford, Illinois made all the gears for the Curiosity rover -- created from titanium -- putting in extra hours and effort to get everything just right (they also made the gears for the Mars Exploration Rovers).

It also subtly emphasizes how the money spent on space exploration isn't just stuffed into a rocket and blasted into space. Almost all of Curiosity's parts were made from different companies in 33 states in the US; the rest came from companies in partner countries, all which employs hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

You have to bet that every person who created or touched any of the parts -- big or small -- on Curiosity were just as jazzed as the cheering team at JPL when the rover landed successfully. And that Curiosity is working so well and roving around in Gale Crater has to be a a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, too.

The video comes from a series about Rockford, Illinois called

"Our City, Our Story."

Our Curiosity

from

Our City, Our Story

on

Vimeo

.

via Kottke.org

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com