Philosophy
Ole "Dead Eye" Curiosity honing its skills. How soon will it be before toy companies market the goodies. WOW, NASA will make millions on royalties.
by
Adam Mann
August 30th, 2012
Wired
When it comes to laser blasts, the Curiosity rover is no slouching Stormtrooper. These impressive before-and-after shots show a nice row of dots resulting from the probe’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on a target patch of soil on Mars.
Burning tiny holes in this unlucky bit of Martian dirt — which NASA engineers nicknamed “Beechy” — is called a five-by-one raster. The technique provides data about changes in chemical composition over small areas of the regolith. Each image covers a circular view about three inches wide.
ChemCam is Curiosity’s coolest bit of science gear, shooting laser beams that deliver a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The rover analyzes the resulting glowing plasma to determine what elements and molecules make up its target. Beechy received 50 laser shots, creating holes ranging from 0.08 to 0.16 inches wide, and demonstrated the rover’s ability to clear dust and small grains from its target area.
Chemical analysis showed that the rocks in this sample look unsurprisingly similar over such a short distance, but the small amount of variability will help scientists with future studies. This is not the first time that Curiosity has shot its ChemCam laser — a previous rock, Coronation, was at the receiving end of the rover’s might 11 days ago.
- Interactive Fully Panoramic Photograph Of Mars Via Curiosity Rover
This may just be the coolest thing you see this week: a high-def 360-degree panoramic image based on photographs taken by the Curiosity rover in Mars. And as if that weren't awesome enough, if you view this image through your mobile device, the gyroscope...
- "kowabonga Dudes. Surf's Up."...curiosity Hits The Beach With A Sand Sample
"Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover to scoop sand sample" by Jonathan Amos October 5th, 2012 BBC News The Curiosity rover is preparing to scoop its first sample of Martian soil. The vehicle, which landed on the Red Planet in August, has driven up to a...
- Pyramidal Mars Rock And Curiosity Get Together
In a series of new raw images taken by Mars rover Curiosity's Navcams, it appears that mission managers have given the command for the rover's robotic arm to reach out to its first contact science target, a pyramid-shaped rock named "Jake...
- "curiosity" To Land Soon
"Curiosity Rover on Track for Early August Landing" June 28th, 2012 NASAA maneuver on Tuesday adjusted the flight path of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft for delivering the rover Curiosity to a landing target beside a Martian mountain....
- Soon..."curiosity" Will Be "up, Up, And Away" Towards Mars...november 25th, 2011
"NASA: New Mars rover will look for the ingredients of life" November 10th, 2011 Los Angeles Times If you think that people who believe in the possibility of extraterrestrial life are kooks, you probably haven't talked to a NASA space scientist...
Philosophy
Do I smell a challenge in the streets of Dodge City?
Ole "Dead Eye" Curiosity honing its skills. How soon will it be before toy companies market the goodies. WOW, NASA will make millions on royalties.
"Before-and-After Photos: Curiosity’s Laser Burns Holes in Martian Rock"
by
Adam Mann
August 30th, 2012
Wired
When it comes to laser blasts, the Curiosity rover is no slouching Stormtrooper. These impressive before-and-after shots show a nice row of dots resulting from the probe’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on a target patch of soil on Mars.
Burning tiny holes in this unlucky bit of Martian dirt — which NASA engineers nicknamed “Beechy” — is called a five-by-one raster. The technique provides data about changes in chemical composition over small areas of the regolith. Each image covers a circular view about three inches wide.
ChemCam is Curiosity’s coolest bit of science gear, shooting laser beams that deliver a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The rover analyzes the resulting glowing plasma to determine what elements and molecules make up its target. Beechy received 50 laser shots, creating holes ranging from 0.08 to 0.16 inches wide, and demonstrated the rover’s ability to clear dust and small grains from its target area.
Chemical analysis showed that the rocks in this sample look unsurprisingly similar over such a short distance, but the small amount of variability will help scientists with future studies. This is not the first time that Curiosity has shot its ChemCam laser — a previous rock, Coronation, was at the receiving end of the rover’s might 11 days ago.
- Interactive Fully Panoramic Photograph Of Mars Via Curiosity Rover
This may just be the coolest thing you see this week: a high-def 360-degree panoramic image based on photographs taken by the Curiosity rover in Mars. And as if that weren't awesome enough, if you view this image through your mobile device, the gyroscope...
- "kowabonga Dudes. Surf's Up."...curiosity Hits The Beach With A Sand Sample
"Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover to scoop sand sample" by Jonathan Amos October 5th, 2012 BBC News The Curiosity rover is preparing to scoop its first sample of Martian soil. The vehicle, which landed on the Red Planet in August, has driven up to a...
- Pyramidal Mars Rock And Curiosity Get Together
In a series of new raw images taken by Mars rover Curiosity's Navcams, it appears that mission managers have given the command for the rover's robotic arm to reach out to its first contact science target, a pyramid-shaped rock named "Jake...
- "curiosity" To Land Soon
"Curiosity Rover on Track for Early August Landing" June 28th, 2012 NASAA maneuver on Tuesday adjusted the flight path of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft for delivering the rover Curiosity to a landing target beside a Martian mountain....
- Soon..."curiosity" Will Be "up, Up, And Away" Towards Mars...november 25th, 2011
"NASA: New Mars rover will look for the ingredients of life" November 10th, 2011 Los Angeles Times If you think that people who believe in the possibility of extraterrestrial life are kooks, you probably haven't talked to a NASA space scientist...