The Mars Curiosity Rover has drilled a hole in Mars for the first time yesterday. Curiosity used the drill at the tip of its robotic arm to drill a small .8 inch (2 centimeter) hole into the Martian rock affectionately named “John Klein”. The so-called “mini-drill test” marked the first time Curiosity used both the…
Tag: curiosity rover
Cornerstone of Mars Curiosity Rover mission, drilling Martian surface, is about to begin
No spacecraft has ever penetrated the rocky surface of Mars, or any planet for that matter, but that is about to change. In the past few weeks, Curiosity Rover has been stationed in a region called Yellowknife Bay, which features fractured ground with different temperature swings compared to other nearby terrain – and plenty of…
Say “Cheese” – Mars Curiosity Rover sends back high-res self-portrait from Gale Crater
NASA’s Curiosity Rover has sent back a high-res photo of itself in the Gale crater on Mars. The image was taken by Curiosity’s MAHLI hand held camera which sits on the end of the rover’s extendable arm. MAHLI took a total of 55 pictures which were stitched together to create the stunning hi-res self portrait.…
NASA’s Curiosity rover conducts first soil sample analysis and finds the soil is volcanic and similar to soil on Hawaiian Islands
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover conducted its first soil sample analysis using its miniaturized X-Ray diffraction instrument that is a part of CheMin instrument (a miniature lab on wheels). The soil sample was collected from an area known as Rocknest in the Gale Crater. The analysis revealed that the sample is a weathered volcanic type similar…
Mars Curiosity Rover finds more strange bright, shiny flecks in soil samples – working to identify
Unrelated to last week’s “shiny object” find, this week Curiosity Rover took three scoops from the Martian soil and found several bright, shiny particles in the sample. In an area called Rocknest, the rover was sampling and analyzing soil when it ran across a small, shiny particle. Scooping was halted and after NASA determined that…
NASA Curiosity Rover finds evidence of ancient flowing streams on Mars – UPDATED PICTURES
NASA announced today (on the evening of Sol 51), that Curiosity Rover has found evidence of an ancient flowing stream on Mars at a few sites. Round-shaped rocks, called clasts, have lead Geologists to the conclusion that they have been moved about by water. The clasts are too heavy to have been moved by wind.
Curiosity Rover performs driveby blast, then stops and fondles its first Martian rock on route to Glenelg
This past weekend, on route to Glenelg, the Curiosity Rover’s first target on Mars, Curiosity arrived at the “Jake Matijevic” rock where it stopped and probed the rock with its huge robotic arm to determine its chemical composition. Curiosity also blasted the specimen with its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer. Then Curiosity shot laser pulses at…
How does NASA remotely drive Mars Curiosity Rover?
The $2.5 billion dollar, nuclear powered Mars Curiosity Rover is not autonomous. On Earth, NASA engineers manually drive the robot around the surface of Mars. If you are picturing a NASA geek, red hand clinched tightly around a joystick, with a ear-to-ear grin – you’d only be partially correct. Driving Curiosity is not done in…
Curiosity Rover protective dust cover removed for remarkably clear photos
On sol 33 (the 33rd Martian day), as one of the last steps in its inspection process, the Mars Curiosity Rover removed the clear dust cover from its camera lens (and put it back on for lens protection). The difference in picture clarity is remarkable. The pictures below were taken about five feet above the…
Mars Curiosity Rover leaves tracks visible from space
Curiosity Rover has certainly left its mark on the planet Mars. Photos taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been released showing the tire tracks left by Curiosity on the planet’s surface. The bluish color spots are where Curiosity landed (named Bradbury landing after famous science fiction writer, Ray Bradbury) blowing Mars dust away from…