Mars Curiosity about to really shake things up
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mars Curiosity is about to take its first sip of the red planet's sand. But only after NASA's rover plays bartender to make sure the dry dust is shaken, not stirred.
The rover's scoop will dig into the sand Saturday. Then the action starts. The end of the rover's 220-pound arm will shake "at a nice tooth-rattling vibration level" for eight hours, like a Martian martini mixer gone mad, said mission sampling chief Daniel Limonadi said.
"It kind of looks and feels like if you open the hood of your car with the engine running," Limonadi said, making engine noises in a Thursday NASA telephone press conference.
That heavy shaking will vibrate the fine dust grains through the rover chemical testing system to cleanse it of unwanted residual Earth grease. That's important for the sensitive scientific instruments that are the keystone to the $2.5 billion mission that launched last year.
The rover landed in August and has traveled three-tenths of a mile, taking pictures and analyzing the Martian air.
For the next week or two, Curiosity will scoop, shake and dump sand out three times, like a robotic version of cleaning its mouth out with mouthwash, Limonadi said. The fourth time, the rover will slowly pour "a half a baby aspirin pill of material" into the mobile lab to start a complex chemical analysis, he said.
There's nothing that seems special about the sand that will be tested and that's why NASA picked it out. It's good to start with "boring safe Martian sand dune," Limonadi said.
The car-sized rover has a complex chemical lab, a scoop and a drill to look for the basic ingredients of life, including carbon-based compounds, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen. This will be the first time the chemistry lab will be used. In about a month, after going to a newer more interesting location, the rover will start drilling into the ground for samples.
The rover's scoop will dig into the sand Saturday. Then the action starts. The end of the rover's 220-pound arm will shake "at a nice tooth-rattling vibration level" for eight hours, like a Martian martini mixer gone mad, said mission sampling chief Daniel Limonadi said.
"It kind of looks and feels like if you open the hood of your car with the engine running," Limonadi said, making engine noises in a Thursday NASA telephone press conference.
That heavy shaking will vibrate the fine dust grains through the rover chemical testing system to cleanse it of unwanted residual Earth grease. That's important for the sensitive scientific instruments that are the keystone to the $2.5 billion mission that launched last year.
The rover landed in August and has traveled three-tenths of a mile, taking pictures and analyzing the Martian air.
For the next week or two, Curiosity will scoop, shake and dump sand out three times, like a robotic version of cleaning its mouth out with mouthwash, Limonadi said. The fourth time, the rover will slowly pour "a half a baby aspirin pill of material" into the mobile lab to start a complex chemical analysis, he said.
There's nothing that seems special about the sand that will be tested and that's why NASA picked it out. It's good to start with "boring safe Martian sand dune," Limonadi said.
The car-sized rover has a complex chemical lab, a scoop and a drill to look for the basic ingredients of life, including carbon-based compounds, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen. This will be the first time the chemistry lab will be used. In about a month, after going to a newer more interesting location, the rover will start drilling into the ground for samples.
I wonder what that jerk senator who thinks the Earth is 9000 years old has to say about this?
I love keeping track of the Curiosity rover. If NASA had a budget any where close to the size of the military's, we'd probably already have manned missions to Mars.Â
Boring, not on your life lol, even boring material can come out interesting.:)
One of my neighbor kids recently commented that they want to be an astronaut when they grow up and go to Mars. Maybe they will . . .
 @mkamom If my son wants to join the 100 year spaceship, he can :) If it is a dream of his when het gets old enough to decide for himself that would be an honr to see him happy.
Somehow a remote-controlled car isn't even cool on Mars
The human race is simply amazing.
This is pretty cool. Controlling a one ton vehicle that is about 175 million miles away. I am excited at what they will find in the tests.