Mars Science Laboratory: Mission Objectives
To contribute to the four science goals and meet its specific goal of determining Mars' habitability, Mars Science Laboratory has the following science objectives.
Biological objectives:
- Determine the nature and inventory of organic carbon compounds
- Inventory the chemical building blocks of life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur)
- Identify features that may represent the effects of biological processes
Geological and geochemical objectives:
- Investigate the chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of the martian surface and near-surface geological materials
- Interpret the processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils
Planetary process objectives:
- Assess long-timescale (i.e., 4-billion-year) atmospheric evolution processes
- Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide
Surface radiation objective:
- Characterize the broad spectrum of surface radition, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons
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