NASA Releases Medallions to Commemorate JPL’s Curiosity Mars Rover

NASA introduced thousands of 1.75-inch diameter commemorative medallions “minted with test metal used during the engineering of Curiosity” to celebrate the first anniversary of the Rover’s landing on Mars.”

The medallion features a three-dimensional view of Curiosity including its laser-outfitted camera mast as well as the custom thread on one of the rover’s wheels which leave long its path the acronym Jet Propulsion Laboratory or “JPL” in Morse code, Space.com reported.

It’s front side also shows inscription of “Mars Curiosity Rover” and “Landing — August 5, 2012.” as based on NASA JPL in Pasadena’s recorded date of Curiosity’s touchdown.

The other side of the coin shows an embossed drawing of Mars with a superscript of “NASA” in it’s middle, and Mars’ two moons: Phobos and Deimos on its side. Incsribed in the inner circle of the coin are captions “Mars Exploration” and “NASA Official Commemorative,” while the inscription on the outer circle says “This Medallion Was Minted With Test Metal Used During The Engineering Of Curiosity.”

Winco International of California, the producer of the medallions, included the unique metal into the minting process of the medallions. This metal was used in the tee duct in one of Curiosity’s control system, which was used to cool Curiosity’s nuclear power source called Multi-Mission Radio-Thermal Generator (MMRTG), according to space.com.

“Winco’s mission in producing the Curiosity medallion was to create an official commemorative that would be worthy of the program it represents,” Winco president Andy Boston told Space.com. “The resulting design and dimensional quality has truly exceeded our expectations.”

The medallions are available to the public through selected distributors.

Aside from the Curisosity medallions, Winco also produced other memorabilia for NASA including minted medallions for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo missions, the 30-year space shuttle program, and the aeronautic achievements pioneered at the Dryden Flight Research Center.

The six-wheeled Curiosity rover journeyed from Earth to Mars for nine months before it landed on Mars’ Gale Crater on Aug. 6 last year. Curiosity, weighing one ton, is also considered as the largest roving vehicle launched to Mars in the history.

Curiosity is expected to investigate on the Martian environment and the planet’s evolution during the rover’s last year of mission.