Curiosity (rover) comparison to Pancam on the Mars Exploration Rovers, the MastCam-34 has 1.25× higher spatial resolution and the MastCam-100 has 3.67× higher spatial resolution. The region the rover is set to explore has been compared to the Four Corners region of the North American west. Gale Crater has an area similar to Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Colin Pillinger, leader of the "Beagle 2" project, reacted emotionally to the large number of technicians monitoring "Curiosity" descent, because "Beagle 2" had only four people monitoring it. The "Beagle 2" team made a virtue out of necessity; it was known that there was
International Year of Planet Earth International Year of Planet Earth The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the advancement of sustainable development. UNESCO was designated as the lead agency. The Year's activities spanned the three years 2006-2009. The Year aimed to raise $20 million from industry and governments, of which half was to be spent on co-funding research, and half on "outreach" activities. It was intended to be the biggest ever international effort to promote the Earth sciences. Apart from researchers, who were expected to benefit under the