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MSL Science Objectives

The NASA Headquarters-approved science objectives of the Mars Science Laboratory Project are described below, as a word-for-word excerpt from Appendix B-8 to the July 2006 Mars Exploration Program Plan, titled "Program Level Requirements for Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Project."

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The primary science objective of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) project will be to deploy to the surface of Mars a mission equipped with the capability to assess the present and past habitability* of the martian environments accessed by the mission. Assessment of present habitability requires an evaluation of the characteristics of the environment and the processes that influence it from microscopic to regional scales and a comparison of these characteristics with what is known about the capacity of life as we know it to exist in such environments. Determination of past habitability has the added requirement of inferring environments and processes in the past from observation in the present. Such assessments require integration of a wide variety of chemical, physical, and geological observations. In order to achieve these objectives, the MSL mission will conduct and integrate the following observations and/or measurements:

1. Characterization of geological features, contributing to deciphering geological history and the processes that have modified rocks and regolith, including the role of water;
2. Determination of the mineralogy and chemical composition (including an inventory of elements such as C, H, N, O, P, S, etc. known to be building blocks for life) of surface and near-surface materials;
3. Determination of energy sources that could be used to sustain biological processes;
4. Characterization of organic compounds and potential biomarkers in representative regolith, rocks, and ices;
5. Determination of the stable isotopic and noble gas composition of the present-day bulk atmosphere;
6. Identification of potential bio-signatures (chemical, textural, isotopic) in rocks and regolith;
7. Characterization of the broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons; and
8. Characterization of the local environment, including basic meteorology, the state and cycling of water and CO2, and the near-surface distribution of hydrogen.

* Habitability is defined as an environment's potential to support life as we know it.

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