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› Full SizeCuriosity Rover's Self Portrait at 'John Klein' Drilling Site
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013).The rover is positioned at a patch of flat outcrop called "John Klein," which was selected as the site for the first rock-drilling activities by Curiosity. The self-portrait was acquired to document the drilling site.
The rover's robotic arm is not visible in the mosaic. MAHLI, which took the component images for this mosaic, is mounted on a turret at the end of the arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images or portions of images used in the mosaic.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
05.09.13
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines 66 exposures
taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th
Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013). Image
credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
› Full image and caption
› Full image and caption
WASHINGTON -- Two prominent aerospace industry organizations are
recognizing the contributions of NASA, especially the achievements of
the team that landed NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars in August, with
coveted awards.
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) will present its Robert J.
Collier Trophy to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Team of NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., at an event in
Arlington, Va., Thursday night. At an event in Washington on Wednesday,
the team received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
(AIAA) Foundation Award.
AIAA also conferred its highest recognition, the title of honorary
fellow, on William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for
human exploration and operations and presented NASA's Associate
Administrator for Science, astronaut John Grunsfeld, with its AIAA
National Capitol Section Barry Goldwater Educator Award. AIAA recognized
two other NASA employees as fellows: Ray G. Clinton of NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Laurence D. Leavitt of
NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
"It's wonderful to see NASA's people and their accomplishments
recognized by the aerospace community," NASA Administrator Charles
Bolden said. "In particular, the Curiosity landing was the hardest NASA
mission ever attempted in the history of robotic planetary exploration.
These prestigious awards are a testament to the dedication and hard work
of the entire worldwide team."
The NAA established the Collier Trophy in 1911 and presents it yearly to
recognize the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in
America. The AIAA awards recognize the most influential and inspiring
individuals in aerospace, whose outstanding contributions merit the
highest accolades. Past honorees have included Orville Wright, Neil
Armstrong, the team that designed the space shuttle and the astronauts
who carried out the first Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in 1993.
The NAA's Collier citation notes the MSL team's "extraordinary
achievements of successfully landing Curiosity on Mars, advancing the
nation's technological and engineering capabilities, and significantly
improving humanity's understanding of ancient Martian habitable
environments."
More than 7,000 people in at least 33 U.S. states and 11 other countries
have worked on the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity, the
laboratory's centerpiece, carries 10 science instruments to investigate
the environmental history inside Gale Crater on Mars. In March, rover
scientists announced an analysis of a rock sample collected there shows
Mars could have supported living microbes in an ancient freshwater
environment. Curiosity's mission is expected to last at least two years.
"The prestigious Collier Trophy is a wonderful recognition for
Curiosity, a phenomenal engineering and science achievement that has
captured the hearts and minds of children and adults across America and
around the globe," said Charles Elachi, director of JPL. "It's an honor
to do missions like this one on behalf of NASA and the nation."
Two other teams from JPL that manage NASA spacecraft, the Dawn mission
to the asteroid belt and the Voyager mission to interstellar space, were
finalists for the 2012 Collier Trophy.
JPL designed, developed and assembled the rover and manages its mission
for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about the Collier Trophy,
For more information about the AIAA awards,
visit:
http://bit.ly/12j3ey0
For more about the Mars Science Laboratory mission,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl
For information on other NASA missions and programs,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Jia-Rui C. Cook / Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0850/ 818-354-6278
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov / guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov
Jia-Rui C. Cook / Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-0850/ 818-354-6278
jccook@jpl.nasa.gov / guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov
NASA Curiosity Rover Team Selects Second Drilling Target on Mars
PASADENA,
Calif. -- The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on Mars has
selected a second target rock for drilling and sampling. The rover will
set course to the drilling location in coming days.
This second drilling target, called "Cumberland," lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of the rock where Curiosity's drill first touched Martian stone in February. Curiosity took the first rock sample ever collected on Mars from that rock, called "John Klein." The rover found evidence of an ancient environment favorable for microbial life. Both rocks are flat, with pale veins and a bumpy surface. They are embedded in a layer of rock on the floor of a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay."
This second drilling is intended to confirm results from the first drilling, which indicated the chemistry of the first powdered sample from John Klein was much less oxidizing than that of a soil sample the rover scooped up before it began drilling.
"We know there is some cross-contamination from the previous sample each time," said Dawn Sumner, a long-term planner for Curiosity's science team at the University of California at Davis. "For the Cumberland sample, we expect to have most of that cross-contamination come from a similar rock, rather than from very different soil."
Although Cumberland and John Klein are very similar, Cumberland appears to have more of the erosion-resistant granules that cause the surface bumps. The bumps are concretions, or clumps of minerals, which formed when water soaked the rock long ago. Analysis of a sample containing more material from these concretions could provide information about the variability within the rock layer that includes both John Klein and Cumberland.
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., recently finished upgrading Curiosity's operating software following a four-week break. The rover continued monitoring the Martian atmosphere during the break but the team did not send any new commands because Mars and the sun were positioned in such a way the sun could have blocked or corrupted commands sent from Earth.
Curiosity is about nine months into a two-year prime mission since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars. After the second rock drilling in Yellowknife Bay and a few other investigations nearby, the rover will drive toward the base of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5-kilometer) tall layered mountain inside the crater.
JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, of which Curiosity is the centerpiece, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about the mission, visit:
This second drilling target, called "Cumberland," lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of the rock where Curiosity's drill first touched Martian stone in February. Curiosity took the first rock sample ever collected on Mars from that rock, called "John Klein." The rover found evidence of an ancient environment favorable for microbial life. Both rocks are flat, with pale veins and a bumpy surface. They are embedded in a layer of rock on the floor of a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay."
This second drilling is intended to confirm results from the first drilling, which indicated the chemistry of the first powdered sample from John Klein was much less oxidizing than that of a soil sample the rover scooped up before it began drilling.
"We know there is some cross-contamination from the previous sample each time," said Dawn Sumner, a long-term planner for Curiosity's science team at the University of California at Davis. "For the Cumberland sample, we expect to have most of that cross-contamination come from a similar rock, rather than from very different soil."
Although Cumberland and John Klein are very similar, Cumberland appears to have more of the erosion-resistant granules that cause the surface bumps. The bumps are concretions, or clumps of minerals, which formed when water soaked the rock long ago. Analysis of a sample containing more material from these concretions could provide information about the variability within the rock layer that includes both John Klein and Cumberland.
Mission engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., recently finished upgrading Curiosity's operating software following a four-week break. The rover continued monitoring the Martian atmosphere during the break but the team did not send any new commands because Mars and the sun were positioned in such a way the sun could have blocked or corrupted commands sent from Earth.
Curiosity is about nine months into a two-year prime mission since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars. After the second rock drilling in Yellowknife Bay and a few other investigations nearby, the rover will drive toward the base of Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5-kilometer) tall layered mountain inside the crater.
JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, of which Curiosity is the centerpiece, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about the mission, visit:
To follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter, visit:
and
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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