Updates Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity)

NASA / NASA JPL:
Assessing Drop-Off to Mars Rover's Observation Tray

October 25, 2012

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the mission's 78th sol (Oct. 24, 2012) to view soil material on the rover's observation tray. The observations will help assess movement of the sample on the tray in response to vibrations from sample-delivery and sample-processing activities of mechanisms on the rover's arm.

[table="head;width=225"]
Click on image for details​



Sample material from the fourth scoop of Martian soil collected by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is on the rover's observation tray in this image taken during the mission's 78th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 24, 2012) by Curiosity's left Navigation Camera. The tray is 3 inches (7.8 centimeters) in diameter.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
[/table]​


Curiosity is working with material from the fourth scoop of soil it collected at the "Rocknest" patch of dust and sand. On Sol 77, a sieved portion from this scoop was delivered to the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument inside the rover. This is the second soil sample for CheMin analysis. The material from the fourth scoop is also being used to scrub internal surfaces of the rover's sample-processing mechanisms in preparation for delivery of a sample from a later scoop to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

Sol 78 activities included analysis of an atmosphere sample by SAM's Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer and monitoring of environmental conditions by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD).

Sol 78, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 10:57 a.m. Oct. 25, PDT (1:57 p.m., EDT).

{...}
 
NASA JPL:
Continuing Work With Scoops at 'Rocknest'

October 29, 2012

NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity on Sol 82 (Oct. 29, 2012) used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to photograph the diverse rocks in the "Rocknest" area and prepared for an overnight analysis of a soil sample by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument.

[table="head;width=450"]{colsp=2}
Click on images for details​

|

The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of a rock called "Et-Then" during the mission's 82nd sol, or Martian day (Oct. 29, 2012.).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS​
|This focus-merge image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows a rock called "Burwash." The rock has a coating of dust on it. The coarser, visible grains are windblown sand.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS​
[/table]​


On the preceding sol, the rover completed its third round of using vibration of scooped Martian soil to scrub the interior surfaces of the sample-processing mechanisms on the rover's arm. Also on Sol 81, the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument completed an analysis of a sample of Martian atmosphere.

The rover continues regular monitoring of the surrounding environment using the other instruments of its science payload.

Sol 82, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 1:35 p.m. Oct. 29, PDT (4:35 p.m., EDT).

{...}
 
It would be really cool if someone makes an addon simulating the whole Mars Science Laboratory mission, from launch to landing.
 
NASA / NASA JPL:
NASA Rover's First Soil Studies Help Fingerprint Martian Minerals

October 30, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has completed initial experiments showing the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to weathered basaltic soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii.

The minerals were identified in the first sample of Martian soil ingested recently by the rover. Curiosity used its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) to obtain the results, which are filling gaps and adding confidence to earlier estimates of the mineralogical makeup of the dust and fine soil widespread on the Red Planet.

"We had many previous inferences and discussions about the mineralogy of Martian soil," said David Blake of NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., who is the principal investigator for CheMin. "Our quantitative results provide refined and in some cases new identifications of the minerals in this first X-ray diffraction analysis on Mars."

[table="head;width=675"]{colsp=3}
Click on images for details​

||

First X-ray View of Martian Soil​
This graphic shows results of the first analysis of Martian soil by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiment on NASA's Curiosity rover. The image reveals the presence of crystalline feldspar, pyroxenes and olivine mixed with some amorphous (non-crystalline) material. The soil sample, taken from a wind-blown deposit within Gale Crater, where the rover landed, is similar to volcanic soils in Hawaii. The colors in the graphic represent the intensity of the X-rays, with red being the most intense.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames​
|
Olivine on Earth​
The Martian soil examined by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover shows the diffraction signature, or "fingerprint," of the mineral olivine, shown here on Earth in the form of tumbled crystals about a quarter-inch (several millimeters) in size. The semi-precious gem peridot is a variety of olivine.
Image credit: Caltech​
|
X-ray Diffraction, Big and Small​
A conventional X-ray diffraction instrument (left) is the size of a large refrigerator, in contrast to the compact size of the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover (top right) and the spin-off commercial portable instrument (lower right, orange case). Both of the more compact X-ray diffraction instruments were made possible by NASA technology innovations. The CheMin instrument is a cube of about 10 inches (25 centimeters) on each side. It is shown here in the red circle as technicians install it on the rover in the cleanroom at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech​

||

Detector for CheMin​
This charged couple device (CCD) is part of the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover. When CheMin directs X-rays at a sample of soil, this imager, which is the size of a postage stamp, detects both the position and energy of each X-ray photon. The technology in this CCD was originally developed by NASA and has become widely used in commercial digital cameras.
Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech​
|
Shake it up, CheMin​
This image shows the cells that hold the soil samples that are vibrated by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover.
Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech​
|
Curiosity Digs In​
This pair of images shows a "bite mark" where NASA's Curiosity rover scooped up some Martian soil (left), and the scoop carrying soil. The first scoop sample was taken from the "Rocknest" patch of dust and sand on Oct. 7, 2012, the 61st sol, or Martian day, of operations. A third scoop sample was collected on Oct. 15, or Sol 69, and deposited into the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument on Oct. 17, or Sol 71.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS​

 || 

 |
Wind-Blown Martian Sand​
This pair of images from the Mast Camera on NASA's Curiosity rover shows the upper portion of a wind-blown deposit dubbed "Rocknest." The rover team recently commanded Curiosity to take a scoop of soil from a region located out of frame, below this view. The soil was then analyzed with the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument, or CheMin.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS​
| [/table]​


The identification of minerals in rocks and soil is crucial for the mission's goal to assess past environmental conditions. Each mineral records the conditions under which it formed. The chemical composition of a rock provides only ambiguous mineralogical information, as in the textbook example of the minerals diamond and graphite, which have the same chemical composition, but strikingly different structures and properties.

CheMin uses X-ray diffraction, the standard practice for geologists on Earth using much larger laboratory instruments. This method provides more accurate identifications of minerals than any method previously used on Mars. X-ray diffraction reads minerals' internal structure by recording how their crystals distinctively interact with X-rays. Innovations from Ames led to an X-ray diffraction instrument compact enough to fit inside the rover.

These NASA technological advances have resulted in other applications on Earth, including compact and portable X-ray diffraction equipment for oil and gas exploration, analysis of archaeological objects and screening of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, among other uses.

"Our team is elated with these first results from our instrument," said Blake. "They heighten our anticipation for future CheMin analyses in the months and miles ahead for Curiosity."

The specific sample for CheMin's first analysis was soil Curiosity scooped up at a patch of dust and sand that the team named Rocknest. The sample was processed through a sieve to exclude particles larger than 0.006 inch (150 micrometers), roughly the width of a human hair. The sample has at least two components: dust distributed globally in dust storms and fine sand originating more locally. Unlike conglomerate rocks Curiosity investigated a few weeks ago, which are several billion years old and indicative of flowing water, the soil material CheMin has analyzed is more representative of modern processes on Mars.

"Much of Mars is covered with dust, and we had an incomplete understanding of its mineralogy," said David Bish, CheMin co-investigator with Indiana University in Bloomington. "We now know it is mineralogically similar to basaltic material, with significant amounts of feldspar, pyroxene and olivine, which was not unexpected. Roughly half the soil is non-crystalline material, such as volcanic glass or products from weathering of the glass. "

Bish said, "So far, the materials Curiosity has analyzed are consistent with our initial ideas of the deposits in Gale Crater recording a transition through time from a wet to dry environment. The ancient rocks, such as the conglomerates, suggest flowing water, while the minerals in the younger soil are consistent with limited interaction with water."

{...}



NASA News Release: RELEASE : 12-383 - NASA Rover's First Soil Studies Help Fingerprint Martian Minerals

Science Daily: Mars Like Hawaii? NASA Rover's First Soil Studies Help Fingerprint Martian Minerals
 
Universe Today: Curiosity Rover Takes an Incredible Self-Portrait

The Planetary Society Blog: Getting up to speed with Curiosity as of sol 84, and two awesome mosaics

20121031_pano_SP_enh_correct_view.jpg
 
WOW, are they sure there aren't any Martians at the MSL site?
It looks like Curiosity possed for that photo.
 
conspiracy!! there is someone on mars and they dont want to tell us!! :lol:
 
Wow that is one awsome photo right there. As good as it gets for Self-portraits. So much detail :thumbup:
 
NASA / NASA JPL:
NASA Rover Finds Clues to Changes in Mars' Atmosphere

November 02, 2012

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's car-sized rover, Curiosity, has taken significant steps toward understanding how Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere.

Learning what happened to the Martian atmosphere will help scientists assess whether the planet ever was habitable. The present atmosphere of Mars is 100 times thinner than Earth's.

A set of instruments aboard the rover has ingested and analyzed samples of the atmosphere collected near the "Rocknest" site in Gale Crater where the rover is stopped for research. Findings from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments suggest that loss of a fraction of the atmosphere, resulting from a physical process favoring retention of heavier isotopes of certain elements, has been a significant factor in the evolution of the planet. Isotopes are variants of the same element with different atomic weights.

Initial SAM results show an increase of five percent in heavier isotopes of carbon in the atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to estimates of the isotopic ratios present when Mars formed. These enriched ratios of heavier isotopes to lighter ones suggest the top of the atmosphere may have been lost to interplanetary space. Losses at the top of the atmosphere would deplete lighter isotopes. Isotopes of argon also show enrichment of the heavy isotope, matching previous estimates of atmosphere composition derived from studies of Martian meteorites on Earth.

[table="head;width=450"]{colsp=2}
Click on images for details​

|

Shooting Lasers​
This picture shows a lab demonstration of the measurement chamber inside the Tunable Laser Spectrometer, an instrument that is part of the Sample Analysis at Mars investigation on NASA's Curiosity rover.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
|
The Five Most Abundant Gases in the Martian Atmosphere​
This graph shows the percentage abundance of five gases in the atmosphere of Mars, as measured by the Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer instrument of the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on NASA's Mars rover in October 2012.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech, SAM/GSFC​

|

Potential Sources and Sinks of Methane on Mars​
If the atmosphere of Mars contains methane, various possibilities have been proposed for where the methane could come from and how it could disappear.|
Weighing Molecules on Mars​
The plot on the left shows new results from the Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
[/table]​


Scientists theorize that in Mars' distant past its environment may have been quite different, with persistent water and a thicker atmosphere. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission will investigate possible losses from the upper atmosphere when it arrives at Mars in 2014.

With these initial sniffs of Martian atmosphere, SAM also made the most sensitive measurements ever to search for methane gas on Mars. Preliminary results reveal little to no methane. Methane is of interest as a simple precursor chemical for life. On Earth, it can be produced by either biological or non-biological processes.

Methane has been difficult to detect from Earth or the current generation of Mars orbiters because the gas exists on Mars only in traces, if at all. The Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) in SAM provides the first search conducted within the Martian atmosphere for this molecule. The initial SAM measurements place an upper limit of just a few parts methane per billion parts of Martian atmosphere, by volume, with enough uncertainty that the amount could be zero.

"Methane is clearly not an abundant gas at the Gale Crater site, if it is there at all. At this point in the mission we're just excited to be searching for it," said SAM TLS lead Chris Webster of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "While we determine upper limits on low values, atmospheric variability in the Martian atmosphere could yet hold surprises for us."

[table="head;width=450"]{colsp=2}
Click on images for details​

|

Lifting SAM Instrument for Installation into Mars Rover​
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, will examine samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
|
Pieces of the Tunable Laser Spectrometer​
This schematic shows pieces of the Tunable Laser Spectrometer instrument, one of three instruments in the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on NASA's Curiosity rover. As seen in the top graphic, the Tunable Laser.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​

​
|
​

Lab Examples of Tunable Laser Spectrometer Data​
These graphics show how the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) instrument works and what kinds of data it returns.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
|
The SAM Suite​
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, largest of the 10 science instruments for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, examines samples of Martian rocks, soil and atmosphere for information about chemicals that are important to life and other chemical indicators about past and present environments.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech​
[/table]​


In Curiosity's first three months on Mars, SAM has analyzed atmosphere samples with two laboratory methods. One is a mass spectrometer investigating the full range of atmospheric gases. The other, TLS, has focused on carbon dioxide and methane. During its two-year prime mission, the rover also will use an instrument called a gas chromatograph that separates and identifies gases. The instrument also will analyze samples of soil and rock, as well as more atmosphere samples.

"With these first atmospheric measurements we already can see the power of having a complex chemical laboratory like SAM on the surface of Mars," said SAM Principal Investigator Paul Mahaffy of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Both atmospheric and solid sample analyses are crucial for understanding Mars' habitability."

SAM is set to analyze its first solid sample in the coming weeks, beginning the search for organic compounds in the rocks and soils of Gale Crater. Analyzing water-bearing minerals and searching for and analyzing carbonates are high priorities for upcoming SAM solid sample analyses.

{...}



NASA News Release: RELEASE : 12-387 - NASA'S Curiosity Rover Provides Clues to Changes in Martian Atmosphere

NASA Goddard: NASA's Curiosity Rover Provides Clues to Changes in Martian Atmosphere

SpaceRef: Curiosity Rover Provides Clues to Changes in Martian Atmosphere

SPACE.com: Curiosity Rover Finds No Methane on Mars — Yet

Science Daily: NASA Rover Finds Clues to Changes in Mars' Atmosphere

Discovery News: Where's Mars' Methane? Curiosity Draws a Blank

Spaceflight Now: Curiosity sniffs Martian air, but finds no methane
 
those wheels have a surprising amount of dents in them!
 
statickid said:
those wheels have a surprising amount of dents in them!
Click to expand...

Curiosity's mass is 900 kg. On Mars, her weight is around 3300 N, which makes for around 550 N per each wheel, or equivalent to about 55 kg mass on Earth. That's like having 55 kg pressing down on her wheels with a rock that touches the wheels with the surface area of a pencil...


It's tough to get the scale of the rover from the images, but this thing ain't no "cute lil rover" like the ones before.
 
NASA / NASA JPL:
Curiosity Team Switches Back to Earth Time

November 06, 2012

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- After three months working on "Mars time," the team operating NASA Mars rover Curiosity has switched to more regular hours, as planned.

A Martian day, called a sol, is about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day, so the team's start time for daily planning has been moving a few hours later each week. This often resulted in the team working overnight hours, Pacific Time.

Starting this week, most of the team's work will stay within bounds of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., PST. Compressing the daily planning process for rover activities makes the switch possible.

"People are glad to be going off Mars time," said Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project, which operates Curiosity. "The team has been successful in getting the duration of the daily planning process from more than 16 hours, during the initial weeks after landing, down to 12 hours. We've been getting better at operations."

A simultaneous change this week begins more dispersed operations for the scientists on the rover team. The team includes about 200 JPL engineers and about 400 scientists, mostly from other institutions. More than 200 non-JPL scientists who have spent some time working at JPL since Curiosity's landing on Aug. 5, 2012 (Pacific Time; Aug. 6, Eastern Time and Universal Time) will continue participating regularly from their home institutions throughout North America and Europe. The team has been preparing in recent weeks to use dispersed participation teleconferences and Web connections.

"The phase that we're completing, working together at one location, has been incredibly valuable for team-building and getting to know each other under the pressure of daily timelines," said Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist Joy Crisp, of JPL. "We have reached the point where we can continue working together well without needing to have people living away from their homes."

The operational planning this week is focused on getting a first sample of solid Martian material into the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument.

On the mission's Sol 89 (Nov. 5, 2012), the other analytical instrument inside the rover, Chemistry and Mineralogy, or CheMin, dumped out the second soil sample it had finished analyzing. That second sample into CheMin came from the fourth scoop of soil that Curiosity's robotic arm collected at a site called "Rocknest." Also on Sol 89 came confirmation that SAM had completed an overnight analysis run on a blank sample cup in preparation for receiving a soil sample. Plans call for the fifth scoop at Rocknest to provide samples going into both SAM and CheMin in coming days.

{...}



Mars Daily:
Science Daily: Curiosity Team Switches Back to Earth Time

SPACE.com: Curiosity Mars Rover Team Switches Back to Earth Time
 
I missed this story when it came out last month:


Weather On Mars Surprisingly Warm, Curiosity Rover Finds.
by SPACE.com Staff
Date: 01 October 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET
"If this warm trend carries on into summer, we might even be able to foresee temperatures in the 20s [Celsius], and that would be really exciting from a habitability point of view," Gómez said. "In the daytimes, we could see temperatures high enough for liquid water on a regular basis. But it’s too soon to tell whether that will happen or whether these warm temperatures are just a blip.”
http://www.space.com/17828-mars-weather-curiosity-rover-discovery.html
Click to expand...

Bob Clark
 
Up to 20 Celsius? Whoa, that's really something! (Warmer than midday here today by a large margin. :P)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

N_Molson
Updates Long March 5 / Tianwen 1 [orbiting Mars] / Zhurong rover [soft-landed]
Replies
12
Views
7K
N_Molson
N_Molson
Marijn
News Bye bye Opportunity
Replies
7
Views
2K
mahdavi3d
mahdavi3d
MarkWatney2015
Request Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) addon??
Replies
7
Views
6K
gattispilot
gattispilot
Nicholas Kang
Updates JAXA-NASA: Mars Moons eXploration (MMX)
Replies
0
Views
2K
Nicholas Kang
Nicholas Kang
Nicholas Kang
Launch News Atlas V GOES-S Mission (March 1, 2018, 22:02-00:02 UTC) AV-077
Replies
5
Views
4K
Nicholas Kang
Nicholas Kang
Back
Top