NASA TV Briefing Discusses Curiosity Rover Analysis of Mars Rock
Curiosity - Robot Geologist and Chemist in One!
This
artist's concept features NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity
rover, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to
sustain microbial life.
Curiosity landed near the Martian equator about 10:31 p.m., Aug. 5 PDT (1:31 a.m. Aug. 6 EDT).
In this picture, the rover examines a rock on Mars with a set of tools
at the end of the rover's arm, which extends about 7 feet (2 meters).
Two instruments on the arm can study rocks up close. A drill can collect
sample material from inside of rocks and a scoop can pick up samples of
soil. The arm can sieve the samples and deliver fine powder to
instruments inside the rover for thorough analysis.
The mast,
or rover's "head," rises to about 6.9 feet (2.1 meters) above ground
level, about as tall as a basketball player. This mast supports two
remote-sensing science instruments: the Mast Camera, or "eyes," for
stereo color viewing of surrounding terrain and material collected by
the arm; and, the Chemistry and Camera instrument, which uses a laser to
vaporize a speck of material on rocks up to about 23 feet (7 meters)
away and determines what elements the rocks are made of.
NASA's
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for
the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
For more information about Curiosity is at
http://www.nasa.gov/msl and
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ .
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA
Guillerm Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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