Curiosity rover panorama of Mount Sharp captured on June 6, 2014 (Sol 651) during traverse inside Gale Crater. Note rover wheel tracks at left. She will eventually ascend the mountain at the ‘Murray Buttes’ at right later this year. Assembled from Mastcam color camera raw images and stitched by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
Curiosity rover panorama of Mount Sharp captured on June 6, 2014 (Sol 651) during traverse inside Gale Crater. Note rover wheel tracks at left. She will eventually ascend the mountain at the ‘Murray Buttes’ at right later this year. Assembled from Mastcam color camera raw images and stitched by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com Story updated[/caption]
Within the past Martian day on Friday, June 6, NASA’s rover Curiosity captured a stunning new panorama of towering Mount Sharp and the treacherous sand dunes below which she must safely traverse before reaching the mountains foothills – while ‘On The Go’ to her primary destination.
See our brand new Mount Sharp photo mosaic above – taken coincidentally by humanity’s emissary on Mars on the 70th anniversary of D-Day on Earth.
Basically she’s eating desiccated dirt while running a Martian marathon.
Having said ‘Goodbye Kimberley’ after drilling her third bore hole deep into a cold red slab of enticing bumpy textures of Martian sandstone in the name of science, our intrepid mega rover Curiosity is trundling along with all deliberate speed towards the inviting slopes of sedimentary rocks at the base of mysterious Mount Sharp which hold clues to the habitability of the Red Planet.
The sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp, which reaches 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky, is the six wheeled robots ultimate destination inside Gale Crater because it holds caches of water altered minerals.
Such minerals could possibly mark locations that sustained potential Martian microbial life forms, past or present, if they ever existed.
Mars was far wetter and warmer – and more conducive to the origin of life – billions of years ago.
Curiosity’s panoramic view departing Mount Remarkable and ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover conducted 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 630, May 15, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
The 1 ton robot is driving on a path towards the Murray Buttes which lies across the dunes on the right side of Mount Sharp as seen in our photo mosaic above, with wheel tracks on the left side.
She will eventually ascend the mountain at the ‘Murray Buttes’ after crossing the sand dunes.
Curiosity still has roughly another 4 kilometers of driving to go to reach the foothills of Mount Sharp sometime later this year.
Approximately four weeks ago, Curiosity successfully completed her 3rd drilling campaign since landing at the science waypoint region called “The Kimberley” on May 5, Sol 621, into the ‘Windjana’ rock target at the base of a 16 foot tall ( 5 Meter) hill called Mount Remarkable.
Composite photo mosaic shows deployment of NASA Curiosity rovers robotic arm and two holes after drilling into ‘Windjana’ sandstone rock on May 5, 2014, Sol 621, at Mount Remarkable as missions third drill target for sample analysis by rover’s chemistry labs. The navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 621, May 5, 2014 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
The fresh hole drilled into “Windjana” was 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) deep and resulted in a mound of dark grey colored drill tailings piled around. It looked different from the initial holes drilled at Yellowknife Bay in the spring of 2013.
Windjana lies some 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) southwest of Yellowknife Bay.
Curiosity then successfully delivered pulverized and sieved samples to the pair of onboard miniaturized chemistry labs; the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) – for chemical and compositional analysis.
Before departing, Curiosity blasted the hole multiple times with her million watt laser on the Mast mounted Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument , leaving no doubt of her capabilities or intentions.
And she completed an up close examination of the texture and composition of ‘Windjana’ with the MAHLI camera and spectrometers at the end of her 7-foot-long (2 meter) arm to glean every last drop of science before moving on.
“Windjana” is named after a gorge in Western Australia.
While ‘On the Go’ to Mount Sharp, the rover is keeping busy with science activities by investigating the newly cored Martian material.
“Inside Curiosity we continue to analyse the Kimberley samples with CheMin and SAM,” wrote mission team member John Bridges in an update.
To date, Curiosity’s odometer totals 3.8 miles (6.1 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. She has taken over 154,000 images.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, commercial space, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Curiosity’s Panoramic view of Mount Remarkable at ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover conducted 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 603, April 17, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Featured on APOD – Astronomy Picture of the Day on May 7, 2014 The Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover provided this nighttime view of a hole produced by the rover’s drill and, inside the hole, a line of scars produced by the rover’s rock-zapping laser. The hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter. The camera used its own white-light LEDs to illuminate the scene on May 13, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
PHA asteroid 2014 KM4 on approach to Jupiter in late 2021. Credit: the Solar System Dynamics JPL Small-Body Database Browser.
A recent space rock discovery has sent a minor buzz through the community that tracks such objects. And as usual, it has also begun to attract the dubious attention of those less than honorable sites — we won’t dignify them with links — that like to trumpet gloom and doom, and we thought we’d set the record straight, or at very least, head the Woo off at the pass as quickly as possible.
The asteroid in question is 2014 KM4. Discovered earlier this month, this 192 metre space rock safely passed by the Earth-Moon system at 0.17 A.U.s distant on April 21st. No real biggie, as asteroids pass lots closer all the time. For example, we just had a 6-metre asteroid named 2014 KC45 pass about 48,000 miles (about 80,000 kilometres) from the Earth yesterday morning. That’s about twice the distance of the orbit of geosynchronous satellites and 20% the distance to the Moon.
Sure, it’s a dangerous universe out there… you only have to stand in the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona outside of Flagstaff or watch the videos of a meteor exploding over Chelyabinsk last year the day after Valentine’s Day to know that. But what makes 2014 KM4 interesting is its orbit and its potential to approach Jupiter in about seven years.
Or not. One dilemma with orbital mechanics is that the precision of a known orbital path relies on the number of observations made and that position gets more and more uncertain as we project an object’s position ahead in space and time. 2014 KM4 is on a 5.08 year orbit inclined 5.2 degrees to the ecliptic plane that brings it juuusst inside the Earth’s orbit — hence the Apollo designation — and out to an aphelion point very near Jupiter at 5.2 A.U.s from the Sun. But that’s only based on 14 observations made over a span of 5 days. The current nominal trajectory sees 2014 KM4 pass about 0.1 A.U. or 15.5 million kilometres from Jupiter on January 16th 2022. That’s inside the orbit of Jupiter’s outermost moons, but comfortably outside of the orbit of the Galilean moons. The current chance of 2014 KM4 actually impacting Jupiter sits at around 1% and the general trend for these kinds of measurements is for the probability to go down as better observations are made. This is just what happened last year when comet 2013 A1 Siding Spring was discovered to pass very close to Mars later this year on October 19th.
We caught up with JPL astronomer Amy Mainzer, Principal Investigator on the NEOWISE project currently hunting for Near Earth Asteroids for her thoughts on the subject.
“The uncertainty in this object’s orbit is huge since it only has a 5 day observational arc,” Mainzer told Universe Today. “A quick check of the JPL NEO orbit page shows that the uncertainty in its semi-major axis is a whopping 0.47 astronomical units! That’s a huge uncertainty.”
“At this point, any possibility of impact with Jupiter is highly uncertain and probably not likely to happen. But it does point out why it’s so important to extend observational arcs out so that we can extend the arc far enough out so that future observers can nab an object when it makes its next appearance.”
Jupiter takes a beating from Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. Credit: NASA/Hubble Space Telescope team.
IF (that less than 1% “IF”) 2014 KM4 were to hit Jupiter, it would represent the most distant projection ahead in time of such an event. About two decades ago, humanity had a front row seat to the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in July 1994. At an estimated 192 metres in size, 2014 KM4 is about the size of the “D” fragment that hit Jupiter on July 17th 1994. 2014 KM4 has an absolute magnitude (for asteroids, this is how bright they’d appear at 1 A.U. distant) of +21.3 and is currently well placed for follow up observations in the constellation Virgo.
And astronomer Nick Howes mentioned to Universe Today that the Faulkes Telescope North may soon be used to make further observations of 2014 KM4. In the meantime, you can enjoy the animation of their observations of another Near-Earth Asteroid, 2014 KP4.
An animation of the motion of PHA asteroid 2014 KP4. Credit: Remanzacco Observatory.
And yes, the 2022 pass of 2014 KM4 near Jupiter will modify the orbit of the asteroid… but not in our direction. Jupiter is a great “goal tender” in this regard, protecting the inner solar system from incoming hazards.
2014 KM4 is well worth keeping an eye on, but will most likely vanish from interest until it returns to our neck of the solar system in 2065. And no, a killer asteroid won’t hit the Earth in 2045, as a CNN iReport (since removed) stated earlier this week… on “March 35th” no less. Pro-tip for all you conspiracy types out there that think “Big NASA” is secretly hiding the next “big one” from the public: when concocting the apocalypse, please refer to a calendar for a fictional date that at least actually exists!
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover captures sweeping panoramic vista near the ridgeline of 22 km (14 mi) wide Endeavour Crater’s western rim. The center is southeastward and also clearly shows the distant rim. See the complete panorama below. This navcam panorama was stitched from images taken on May 10, 2014 (Sol 3659) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover captures sweeping panoramic vista near the ridgeline of 22 km (14 mi) wide Endeavour Crater’s western rim. The center is southeastward and also clearly shows the distant rim. See the complete panorama below. This navcam panorama was stitched from images taken on May 10, 2014 (Sol 3659) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
More mosaics and 10 year route map below[/caption]
NASA’s incredibly long lived Opportunity rover has driven to the ridgeline of a Martian mountain and captured spectacular panoramic vistas peering down into the vast expanse of huge Endeavour crater and out along the jagged rim segments leading to her next target – which scientists believe holds minerals indicative of a habitable zone. See mosaic views above and below.
Since departing the world famous ‘Jelly Doughnut’ rock by the summit of ‘Solander Point’ in February, Opportunity has spent the past several months driving south and exploring intriguing rock outcrops on ‘Murray Ridge’ located along the eroded western rim of Endeavour Crater.
The renowned robot is now exploring a region of outcrops atop the rims ridge that’s a possible site harboring deposits of hydrated clay minerals, formed in the ancient past when Mars was warmer and wetter.
The ten year oldRed Planet rover first reached the rim of Endeavour Crater in August 2011. She has captured numerous sweeping gorgeous vistas during her first of its kind expedition on the surface of another planet by an alien probe from Earth.
Read my earlier story detailing the top 10 discoveries from twin sisters Spirit and Opportunity according to Deputy Principal Investigator Prof. Ray Arvidson – here.
The gigantic crater spans 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter.
So there is endless enthralling terrain to investigate – for at least another 10 years!
The floor of Endeavour crater is filled with dark sand, brighter dust, and, in the distance, dusty haze, says NASA.
This vista of the Endeavour Crater rim was acquired by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity’s panoramic camera on April 18, 2014, from the southern end of “Murray Ridge” on the western rim of the crater. In mid-May, the rover approached the dark outcrops on the flank of the hill at right. The high peak in the distance on the right is informally named “Cape Tribulation” and is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) to the south of Opportunity’s position when this view was recorded Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
Opportunity’s goal all the while has been to doggedly trek southwards towards exposures of aluminum-rich clays detected from orbit by NASA’s powerful Martian ‘Spysat’ – the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) – while gathering context data at rock outcrops at Murray Ridge along the winding way.
These aluminum-rich clay minerals, or phyllosilicates, likely formed billions of years ago in flowing liquid neutral water which is more conducive to life, compared to more acidic environments explored earlier in the mission, and is therefore potentially indicative of a Martian habitable zone and a scientific goldmine.
The science and engineering team has used the high resolution MRO spectral and imaging data to more efficiently direct Opportunity southwards along the Endeavour crater rim and towards the biggest caches of the clay minerals – which were detected at a mountainous rim segment called ‘Cape Tribulation’ and which is seen in the panoramic vistas.
Although Cape Tribulation still lies some 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) further south, the rover has just arrived at a region which the team believes shows the first signatures of the clay minerals.
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover captures sweeping panoramic vista near the ridgeline of 22 km (14 mi) wide Endeavour Crater’s western rim. The center is southeastward and the distant rim is visible in the center. An outcrop area targeted for the rover to study is at right of ridge. This navcam panorama was stitched from images taken on May 10, 2014 (Sol 3659) and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
“The rover is exploring the region of aluminum-hydroxyl clay minerals seen from orbit,” said NASA in a mission update.
The six wheeled robot will utilize her mast mounted cameras and arm mounted microscopic imager (MI) and APXS spectrometer to gather images and measurements to unlock the mysteries of Mars ability to support life – past or present.
“The more we explore Mars, the more interesting it becomes. These latest findings present yet another kind of gift that just happens to coincide with Opportunity’s 10th anniversary on Mars,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program.
“We’re finding more places where Mars reveals a warmer and wetter planet in its history. This gives us greater incentive to continue seeking evidence of past life on Mars.”
Opportunity Mars rover peers over mountain ridge for gorgeous vista into floor and out to distant rim of 22 km (14 mi) wide Endeavour Crater. This pancam camera view was assembled from images taken on May 16, 2014 (Sol 3665) with false color sky. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
And Opportunity is now power-rich following a series of fortuitous wind cleaning events that substantially cleared the dust off the power generating solar wing arrays.
The solar array energy production has reached 761 watt-hours compared to about 900 watt-hours at landing in 2004 and only about 270 watt-hours just before Christmastime in December 2013.
“Solar panels [are] cleanest since about sol 1600 [September 2008],” says mission science team member Larry Crumpler.
More power means more work time and more bonus science studies and data return.
So the robot survived magnificently through her 6th harsh Martian winter with plenty of science rich targets planned ahead during the southern hemisphere Martian spring and summer.
Opportunity by Solander Point peak – 2nd Mars Decade Starts here!
NASA’s Opportunity rover captured this panoramic mosaic on Dec. 10, 2013 (Sol 3512) near the summit of “Solander Point” on the western rim of Endeavour Crater where she starts Decade 2 on the Red Planet. She is currently investigating outcrops of potential clay minerals formed in liquid water on her 1st mountain climbing adventure. Assembled from Sol 3512 navcam raw images. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
Today, May 24, marks Opportunity’s 3673nd Sol or Martian Day roving Mars – compared to a warranty of just 90 Sols.
So far she has snapped over 192,600 amazing images on the first overland expedition across the Red Planet.
Her total odometry stands at over 24.49 miles (39.41 kilometers) since touchdown on Jan. 24, 2004 at Meridiani Planum.
Meanwhile on the opposite side of Mars, Opportunity’s younger sister rover Curiosity is trekking towards gigantic Mount Sharp and just drilled into her 3rd Red Planet rock at Kimberley.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Traverse Map for NASA’s Opportunity rover from 2004 to 2014 – A Decade on Mars
This map shows the entire path the rover has driven during a decade on Mars and over 3660 Sols, or Martian days, since landing inside Eagle Crater on Jan 24, 2004 to current location along Murray Ridge south of Solander Point summit at the western rim of Endeavour Crater and heading to clay minerals at Cape Tribulation. Opportunity discovered clay minerals at Esperance – indicative of a habitable zone. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer
The Mars Hand Lens Imager on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover provided this nighttime view of a hole produced by the rover's drill and, inside the hole, a line of scars produced by the rover's rock-zapping laser. The hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter. The camera used its own white-light LEDs to illuminate the scene on May 13, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s rover Curiosity said ‘Goodbye Kimberley’ having fulfilled her objectives of drilling into a cold red sandstone slab, sampling the tantalizing grey colored interior and pelting the fresh bore hole with a pinpoint series of parting laser blasts before seeking new adventures on the road ahead towards the inviting slopes of Mount Sharp, her ultimate destination.
Curiosity successfully drilled her 3rd hole deep into the ‘Windjama’ rock target at the base of Mount Remarkable and within the science waypoint at a region called “The Kimberley” on May 5, Sol 621.
Since then, the 1 ton robot carefully scrutinized the resulting 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) deep bore hole and the mound of dark grey colored drill tailings piled around for an up close examination of the texture and composition with the MAHLI camera and spectrometers at the end of her 7-foot-long (2 meters) arm to glean every last drop of science before moving on.
Curiosity’s panoramic view departing Mount Remarkable and ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover conducted 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 630, May 15, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Multiple scars clearly visible inside the drill hole and on the Martian surface resulting from the million watt laser firings of the Mast mounted Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument left no doubt of Curiosity’s capabilities or intentions.
Furthermore she successfully delivered pulverized and sieved samples to the pair of onboard miniaturized chemistry labs; the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) – for chemical and compositional analysis.
Curiosity completed an “intensive investigation of ‘The Kimberley’, having successfully drilled, acquired and dropped samples into CheMin and SAM,” wrote science team member Ken Herkenhoff in an update.
“MAHLI has taken lots of excellent images of the drill hole, including some during the night with LEDs on, nicely showing the ChemCam LIBS spots.”
“The initial analysis of this new sample by Chemin is ongoing, requiring repeated overnight integration to build up high-quality data,” says Herkenhoff.
The rover’s earth bound handlers also decided that one drill campaign into Kimberley was enough.
So the rover will not be drilling into any other rock targets here.
Composite photo mosaic shows deployment of NASA Curiosity rovers robotic arm and two holes after drilling into ‘Windjana’ sandstone rock on May 5, 2014, Sol 621, at Mount Remarkable as missions third drill target for sample analysis by rover’s chemistry labs. The navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 621, May 5, 2014 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
And it may be a very long time before the next drilling since the guiding team of scientists and engineers wants desperately to get on and arrive at the foothills of Mount Sharp as soon as possible.
But the robot will undoubtedly be busy with further analysis of the ‘Windjana’ sample along the way, since there’s plenty of leftover sample material stored in the CHIMRA sample processing mechanism to allow future delivery of samples when the rover periodically pauses during driving.
This May 12, 2014, view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) in NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover shows the rock target “Windjana” and its immediate surroundings after inspection of the site by the rover by drilling and other activities. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Windjana” is named after a gorge in Western Australia.
It’s been a full year since the first two drill campaigns were conducted during 2013 at the ‘John Klein’ and ‘Cumberland’ outcrop targets inside Yellowknife Bay. They were both mudstone rock outcrops and the interiors were markedly different in color.
“The drill tailings from this rock are darker-toned and less red than we saw at the two previous drill sites,” said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, Tempe, deputy principal investigator for Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam).
“This suggests that the detailed chemical and mineral analysis that will be coming from Curiosity’s other instruments could reveal different materials than we’ve seen before. We can’t wait to find out!”
The science team chose Windjana for drilling “to analyze the cementing material that holds together sand-size grains in this sandstone,” says NASA.
Curiosity’s Panoramic view of Mount Remarkable at ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover conducted 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 603, April 17, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Featured on APOD – Astronomy Picture of the Day on May 7, 2014
“The Kimberley Waypoint was selected because it has interesting, complex stratigraphy,” Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, told me.
Curiosity departed the ancient lakebed at the Yellowknife Bay region in July 2013 where she discovered a habitable zone with the key chemical elements and a chemical energy source that could have supported microbial life billions of years ago – and thereby accomplished the primary goal of the mission.
Windjama lies some 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) southwest of Yellowknife Bay.
Curiosity still has about another 4 kilometers to go to reach the foothills of Mount Sharp sometime later this year.
The sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp, which reaches 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky, is the six wheeled robots ultimate destination inside Gale Crater because it holds caches of water altered minerals. Such minerals could possibly indicate locations that sustained potential Martian life forms, past or present, if they ever existed.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Orion, SpaceX, Boeing, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Composite photo mosaic shows deployment of NASA Curiosity rovers robotic arm and two holes after drilling into ‘Windjana’ sandstone rock on May 5, 2014, Sol 621, at Mount Remarkable as missions third drill target for sample analysis by rover’s chemistry labs. The navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 621, May 5, 2014 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Composite photo mosaic shows deployment of NASA Curiosity rovers robotic arm and two holes after drilling into ‘Windjana’ sandstone rock on May 5, 2014, Sol 621, at Mount Remarkable as missions third drill target for sample analysis by rover’s chemistry labs. The navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 621, May 5, 2014 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
See additional Curiosity mosaics below-See our APOD featured on May 7, 2014[/caption]
After a rather satisfying test bore into a sandstone slab at “Kimberley” just last week, NASA’s rover Curiosity decided to go all the way for a deep drill excursion into the Red Planet rock target called “Windjana” and successfully collected powdery samples from the interior on Monday evening, May 5, Sol 621, that the rover will soon consume inside her belly for high tech compositional analysis with her state-of-the-art science instruments.
NASA reported the great news today, Tuesday, May 6, soon after receiving confirmation of the successful acquisition effort by the hammering drill, located at the terminus of the 1 ton robots 7-foot-long (2 meter) arm.
At long last its “Drill, Baby, Drill” time on Mars.
The “Kimberley Waypoint” drill campaign into “Windjana” at the Mount Remarkable butte thus marks only the third Martian rock bored for sampling analysis by the SUV sized rover. This also counts as a new type of Mars rock – identified as sandstone, compared to the pair of mudstone rocks bored into last year.
This May 5, 2014, image (Sol 621) from the Navigation Camera on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows two holes at top center drilled into a sandstone target called “Windjana.” The farther hole was created by the rover’s drill while it collected rock-powder sample material from the interior of the rock that will be fed to the rovers chemistry labs for analysis. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The fresh hole in “Windjana” created on Monday night was clearly visible in images received this afternoon and showed it was 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) deep.
The operation went exactly as planned and left behind a residual pile of drill tailings much darker in color compared to the ubiquitous red color seen covering most of Mars surface.
The new full-depth hole is very close in proximity to the shallower “Mini-drill” test hole operation carried out on April 29 at Windjama to determine if this site met the science requirements for sampling analysis and delivery to the two onboard, miniaturized chemistry labs – SAM and CheMin.
“Windjana” is named after a gorge in Western Australia.
Curiosity’s Panoramic view of Mount Remarkable at ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover will conduct 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 603, April 17, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Featured on APOD – Astronomy Picture of the Day on May 7, 2014
“The drill tailings from this rock are darker-toned and less red than we saw at the two previous drill sites,” said Jim Bell of Arizona State University, Tempe, deputy principal investigator for Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam).
“This suggests that the detailed chemical and mineral analysis that will be coming from Curiosity’s other instruments could reveal different materials than we’ve seen before. We can’t wait to find out!”
In coming days, the sample will be pulverized and sieved prior to delivery to the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) for chemical and compositional analysis.
Windjana is an outcrop of sandstone located at the base of a Martian butte named Mount Remarkable at “The “Kimberley Waypoint” – a science stopping point reached by the rover in early April 2014 halfway along its epic trek to towering Mount Sharp, the primary destination of the mission.
See herein our illustrative photo mosaics of the Kimberly Waypoint region assembled by the image processing team of Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer.
Multisol composite photo mosaic shows deployment of Curiosity’s rovers robotic arm and APXS X-ray spectrometer onto the ‘Winjana’ rock target at Mount Remarkable for evaluation as missions third drill target inside Gale Crater on Mars. The colorized navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 612, April 26, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
The first two drill campaigns conducted during 2013 at ‘John Klein’ and ‘Cumberland’ inside Yellowknife Bay were on mudstone rock outcrops.
The science team chose Windjana for drilling “to analyze the cementing material that holds together sand-size grains in this sandstone,” says NASA.
“The Kimberley Waypoint was selected because it has interesting, complex stratigraphy,” Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, told me.
Curiosity snaps selfie at Kimberley waypoint with towering Mount Sharp backdrop on April 27, 2014 (Sol 613). Inset shows MAHLI camera image of rovers mini-drill test operation on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615) into “Windjana” rock target at Mount Remarkable butte. MAHLI color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 613, April 27, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Curiosity departed the ancient lakebed at the Yellowknife Bay region in July 2013 where she discovered a habitable zone with the key chemical elements and a chemical energy source that could have supported microbial life billions of years ago – and thereby accomplished the primary goal of the mission.
Windjama is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) southwest of Yellowknife Bay.
Curiosity still has about another 4 kilometers to go to reach the base of Mount Sharp sometime later this year.
Martian landscape with rows of curved rock outcrops at ‘Kimberly’ in the foreground and spectacular Mount Sharp on the horizon. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover pulled into Kimberly waypoint dominated by layered rock outcrops as likely drilling site. This colorized navcam camera photomosaic was assembled from imagery taken on Sol 576 (Mar. 20, 2014). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
The sedimentary foothills of Mount Sharp, which reaches 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky, is the 1 ton robots ultimate destination inside Gale Crater because it holds caches of water altered minerals. Such minerals could possibly indicate locations that sustained potential Martian life forms, past or present, if they ever existed.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Chang’e-3, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Curiosity scans scientifically intriguing rock outcrops of gorgeous Martian terrain at ‘The Kimberley’ waypoint in search of next drilling location beside Mount Remarkable butte, at right. Mastcam color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 590, April 4, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Curiosity snaps selfie at Kimberley waypoint with towering Mount Sharp backdrop on April 27, 2014 (Sol 613). Inset shows MAHLI camera image of rovers mini-drill test operation on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615) into “Windjama” rock target at Mount Remarkable butte. MAHLI color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 613, April 27, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
Curiosity snaps selfie at Kimberley waypoint with towering Mount Sharp backdrop on April 27, 2014 (Sol 613). Inset shows MAHLI camera image of rovers mini-drill test operation on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615) into “Windjana” rock target at Mount Remarkable butte. MAHLI color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 613, April 27, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com See more Curiosity photo mosaics below[/caption]
The answer has come Fast and Furious – “Drill, Baby, Drill !”
After spending the weekend inspecting an enticing slab of sandstone rock at “Kimberley”, the team directed NASA’s Curiosity rover to bore a test hole into a Martian rock target called “Windjana” on Tuesday, April 29, Sol 615, that exhibited interesting bumpy textures. See above our illustrative “Kimberley” photo mosaic.
“A decision about full drilling is planned in coming days,” NASA JPL press officer Guy Webster told me today.
Hazcam fisheye camera image shows Curiosity drilling into “Windjana” rock target on April 29, 2014 (Sol 615). Flattened and colorized image shows Mount Remarkable butte backdrop. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Engineers commanded Curiosity to perform the so called “mini-drill” operation at “Windjana”- as the site of the robots third drilling operation since touching down on the Red Planet back in August 2012.
The 1 ton robot drilled a test hole 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and to a depth of about 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) using the hammering drill at the terminus of the robotic arm.
Windjana is an outcrop of sandstone located at the base of a Martian butte named Mount Remarkable at “The “Kimberley” waypoint – a science stopping point reached by the rover in early April 2014 along its epic trek to towering Mount Sharp, the primary destination of the mission.
See our photo mosaics illustrating Curiosity’s science activities and drilling operations on “Windjana” and roving around the “Mount Remarkable” butte at “The Kimberley Waypoint” – above and below – by the image processing team of Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer.
Multisol composite photo mosaic shows deployment of Curiosity’s rovers robotic arm and APXS X-ray spectrometer onto the ‘Winjana’ rock target at Mount Remarkable for evaluation as missions third drill target inside Gale Crater on Mars. The colorized navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 612, April 26, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
The team is evaluating the resulting hole and powdery, gray colored tailings with the arm’s high resolution MAHLI camera and other instruments to determine whether to follow up with a deep drilling operation to a depth of 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters).
To prepare for the “mini drill” operation, Curiosity first brushed the candidate drill site off with the wire-bristle Dust Removal Tool (DRT) this past weekend, to clear away obscuring Red Planet dirt and dust hindering observations with the cameras and spectrometers.
“In the brushed spot, we can see that the rock is fine-grained, its true color is much grayer than the surface dust, and some portions of the rock are harder than others, creating the interesting bumpy textures,” said Curiosity science team member Melissa Rice of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena., in a NASA statement
“All of these traits reinforce our interest in drilling here in order understand the chemistry of the fluids that bound these grains together to form the rock.”
“Windjana,” is named after a gorge in Western Australia.
Curiosity’s Panoramic view of Mount Remarkable at ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover will conduct 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 603, April 17, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Why was Kimberley chosen as a science destination ?
“The Kimberley” has interesting, complex stratigraphy,” Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, told me.
If the team decides that Windjana meets the required criteria, Curiosity will bore a full depth hole into the sandstone rock, and then pulverize and filter it prior to delivery to the two onboard miniaturized chemistry labs – SAM and CheMin.
Windjana would be the first sandstone drill target, if selected. The first two drill locations at ‘John Klein’ and ‘Cumberland’ inside Yellowknife Bay were mudstone.
Curiosity departed the ancient lakebed at the Yellowknife Bay region in July 2013 where she discovered a habitable zone with the key chemical elements and a chemical energy source that could have supported microbial life billions of years ago – and thereby accomplished the primary goal of the mission. Curiosity scans scientifically intriguing rock outcrops of gorgeous Martian terrain at ‘The Kimberley’ waypoint in search of next drilling location beside Mount Remarkable butte, at right. Mastcam color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 590, April 4, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Chang’e-3, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Ken Kremer Curiosity Mars rover captured this panoramic view of a butte called “Mount Remarkable” and surrounding outcrops at “The Kimberley ” waypoint on April 11, 2014, Sol 597. Colorized navcam photomosaic was stitched by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Multisol composite photo mosaic shows deployment of Curiosity’s rovers robotic arm and APXS X-ray spectrometer onto the ‘Winjana’ rock target at Mount Remarkable for evaluation as missions third drill target inside Gale Crater on Mars. The colorized navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 612, April 26, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Multisol composite photo mosaic shows deployment of Curiosity rovers robotic arm and APXS X-ray spectrometer onto the ‘Winjana’ rock target at Mount Remarkable for evaluation as missions third drill target inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were stitched together from several Martian days up to Sol 612, April 26, 2014 and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo See more Curiosity photo mosaics below[/caption]
To Drill or not to Drill?
That’s the momentous question posed by the international team of scientists and engineers who commanded NASA’s SUV sized Curiosity rover to reach out with her high tech robotic arm this weekend (Apr 25-27) and gather critical science measurements for high powered scrutiny of an outcrop on a Martian butte named Mount Remarkable.
See our multisol, composite photo mosaic – above – illustrating Curiosity’s arm in action pressing down her X-ray spectrometer on Saturday, April 26, Sol 612, at an alien rock on Mount Remarkable at the current stopping point at “The Kimberley Waypoint” along the epic trek to towering Mount Sharp.
Via a combination of laser shots, images, brushings and spectrometry the team is pondering new data streaming back daily across hundreds of millions of kilometers of interplanetary space to Earth to determine whether to bore into a sandstone slab being evaluated as the target for the missions third drilling campaign.
The team deployed the arm this weekend onto a rock target called “Windjana,” after a gorge in Western Australia.
Curiosity’s Panoramic view of Mount Remarkable at ‘The Kimberley Waypoint’ where rover will conduct 3rd drilling campaign inside Gale Crater on Mars. The navcam raw images were taken on Sol 603, April 17, 2014, stitched and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
After confirming that the 1 ton robot was in a stable position, the team commanded study observations on Saturday, Sol 612, using the APXS spectrometer and MAHLI camera on the terminus of the arm’s turret.
“The observation will document its chemical composition and morphology before drilling,” says science team member Ken Herkenoff in a mission update.
She also brushed off the potential ‘Windjana’ drill target with the wire-bristle Dust Removal Tool (DRT) to clear away obscuring Red Planet dirt and dust hindering the data collections.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has driven within robotic-arm’s reach of the sandstone slab at the center of this April 23 view from the rover’s Mast Camera. The rover team plans to have Curiosity examine a target patch on the rock, called “Windjana,” to aid a decision about whether to drill there. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover is also conducting continuing remote sensing observations with the ChemCam, Mastcam and Navcam cameras mounted on the Mast.
Today, April 27, Sol 613, “MAHLI will take another selfie of the rover” according to Herkenhoff.
In early April, the six wheeled rover pulled into a scientifically enticing science destination known as “The Kimberley Waypoint” in hopes of carrying out the next drilling operation into alien Martian terrain in search of further clues about ancient Martian environments that may have been favorable for life.
“We are officially in ‘The Kimberley’ now,” Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, told me at that time.
Since arriving in the Kimberley region, Curiosity’s earth bound handlers have been maneuvering the 1 ton robot around to thoroughly survey destination “Kimberley” in choosing the best drill site.
Why was Kimberley chosen as a science destination ?
“The Kimberley” has interesting, complex stratigraphy,” Grotzinger told me.
If Windjana meets the required criteria, Curiosity will bore into the sandstone rock, and then pulverize and filter it prior to delivery to the two onboard miniaturized chemistry labs – SAM and CheMin.
Windjana would be the first sandstone drill target, if selected. The first two drill locations at ‘John Klein’ and ‘Cumberland’ inside Yellowknife Bay were mudstone.
Curiosity scans scientifically intriguing rock outcrops of gorgeous Martian terrain at ‘The Kimberley’ waypoint in search of next drilling location beside Mount Remarkable butte, at right. Mastcam color photo mosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 590, April 4, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
Curiosity departed the ancient lakebed at the Yellowknife Bay region in July 2013 where she discovered a habitable zone with the key chemical elements and a chemical energy source that could have supported microbial life billions of years ago – and thereby accomplished the primary goal of the mission.
“We want to learn more about the wet process that turned sand deposits into sandstone here,” said Grotzinger, in a NASA statement.
“What was the composition of the fluids that bound the grains together? That aqueous chemistry is part of the habitability story we’re investigating.”
“Understanding why some sandstones in the area are harder than others also could help explain major shapes of the landscape where Curiosity is working inside Gale Crater. Erosion-resistant sandstone forms a capping layer of mesas and buttes. It could even hold hints about why Gale Crater has a large layered mountain, Mount Sharp, at its center,” NASA elaborated in the statement.
To date, Curiosity’s odometer totals 3.8 miles (6.1 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. She has taken over 143,000 images.
The sedimentary foothills of Mount Sharp, which reaches 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky, is the 1 ton robots ultimate destination inside Gale Crater because it holds caches of water altered minerals. Such minerals could possibly indicate locations that sustained potential Martian life forms, past or present, if they ever existed.
Curiosity has some 4 kilometers to go to reach the base of Mount Sharp sometime later this year.
Martian landscape with rows of curved rock outcrops at ‘Kimberly’ in the foreground and spectacular Mount Sharp on the horizon. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover pulled into Kimberly waypoint dominated by layered rock outcrops as likely drilling site. This colorized navcam camera photomosaic was assembled from imagery taken on Sol 576 (Mar. 20, 2014). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Chang’e-3, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Curiosity Mars rover captured this panoramic view of a butte called “Mount Remarkable” and surrounding outcrops at “The Kimberley ” waypoint on April 11, 2014, Sol 597. Colorized navcam photomosaic was stitched by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
No rocket sleds were harmed in the making of this video. (NASA/JPL)
“You wanna go to Mars, you wanna go big? Then you gotta test big here,” says mechanical engineer Michael Meacham, and testing big is exactly what he and other engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have done to develop a new supersonic parachute for future Mars landings.
The process of putting things onto Mars has traditionally used the same couple of tried-and-true methods: inflatable, shock-absorbing bouncers and large parachutes combined with retro-rockets (most recently seen in the famous “Seven Minutes of Terror” Curiosity landing in August 2012.) But both methods are limited in how large and massive of an object can safely be placed on the Martian surface. For even larger-scale future missions, new technology will have to be developed to make successful landings possible.
Enter the LDSD, or Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, an enormous parachute — similar to the one used by Curiosity except bigger — that can slow the descent of even more massive payloads through the thin Martian atmosphere.
Of course, part of the development process is testing. And in order to run such a large chute through the same sorts of rigors it would experience during an actual Mars landing, JPL engineers had to step outside of the wind tunnel and devise another method.
The one they came up with involves a rocket sled, a Night Hawk helicopter, a 100-lb steel bullet, a kilometer-long cable (and lots and lots of math.) It’s an experiment worthy of “Mythbusters”… watch the video above to see how it turned out.
“When we land spacecraft on Mars, we’re going extremely fast… we have got to slow down. So we use a parachute. And we use a really BIG parachute.”
– Michael Meacham, Mechanical Engineer at JPL
The participants of the DSN NASA Social gathered in front of the DSS-14 70-meter antenna at Goldstone, April 2, 2014.
When you’re talking to spacecraft billions of miles away, you need a powerful voice. And when you’re listening for their faint replies from those same staggering distances, you need an even bigger set of ears. Fortunately, NASA’s Deep Space Network has both — and last week I had the chance to see some of them up close and in person as one of the lucky participants in a NASA Social! Here’s my overview of what happened on those two exciting days.
(And if this doesn’t make you want to apply for the next Social, I don’t know what will.)
The main building at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (J. Major)
The event began on April 1 (no foolin’) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Nestled at the feet of steep pine-covered hills northeast of Los Angeles, JPL’s campus is absolutely gorgeous… not quite the location you might imagine for the birthplace of robotic interplanetary explorers! But for over 55 years JPL has been developing some of the world’s most advanced spacecraft, from the Ranger probes which took NASA’s first close-up images of the Moon to the twin Voyagers that toured the Solar System’s outer planets, countless Earth-observing satellites that have revolutionized our ability to monitor global weather, and all of the rovers that have been our first “wheels on the ground” on Mars.
Of course, none of those missions would have been possible if we didn’t have the ability to communicate with the spacecraft. That’s why NASA’s Deep Space Network is such an integral — even if not oft-publicized — part of each and every mission… and has been for 50 years.
In fact, that was the purpose of this Social event which gathered together 50 space fans from across the U.S. — to celebrate the achievements of the DSN with an eye-opening tour of both JPL and the DSN’s Goldstone facility with its flagship 70-meter dish, located amongst the rocky scrub-covered hills in the middle of a military base in California’s Mojave desert.
For many participants — including myself — it was the first time visiting JPL. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written about the news that comes out of it, featured its amazing images, and typed the credit line “NASA/JPL-Caltech” in the caption of a picture, so for me it was incredible to actually be there in person. Just driving through the front gate at JPL, with “Welcome To Our Universe” mounted over the window of the guard station, was mind-blowing!
Setting up camp in Mission Control (J. Major)This 16-inch-wide plaque is set into the floor of the “dark room” at JPL Mission Control, covered by a pane of clear acrylic. (J. Major)
From the Visitor’s Center we were gathered into groups and taken into the heart of JPL to get a look at the Mission Control room, aka the “center of the universe.” This is where all the data from ongoing space exploration missions arrives (after being collected by the Deep Space Network, of course.) And we didn’t just get to see Mission Control — we actually set up our computers there and got to take our seats at the very same desks that top JPL and NASA engineers and scientists used during the MSL landing in August 2012! In fact we were treated to a replay of Curiosity’s landing on the screens against the wall that first displayed the rover’s images of Gale Crater. The whole experience was a bit surreal — I vividly recall watching it live, and there we were in the same room as if it were happening all over again! (We even got to re-enact the celebration of the touchdown announcement as our group photo.)
After several presentations and Q&A sessions with NASA mission engineers — recorded live for NASA TV — we all embarked on a tour of JPL’s rock-strewn “Mars Yard” where a stunt double of Curiosity, named “Maggie,” resides in a super high-tech garage. Maggie helps engineers determine what Curiosity can and can’t do on Mars… much more safely than actually having the “real” rover attempt itself.
Watch the NASA TV coverage from Mission Control below:
The group then got the chance to see an actual spacecraft being built in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, a huge clean room where engineers were building components of the upcoming SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite. Slated for launch in October, SMAP will take measurements of the planet’s soil moisture in its freeze/thaw states from orbit over a period of three years. As we watched from the windowed viewing platform several “bunny-suited” engineers were busy working on SMAP’s 6-meter reflector. In another six months or so the parts that were scattered around that clean room will be performing science in orbit!
Where space explorers are born: JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility (J. Major)Randii Wessen (left) and Todd Barber (right) demonstrate… well, I’m not sure what they were demonstrating but it was very entertaining! (J. Major)
From there it was off to the JPL museum and some intimate (and highly animated!) discussions about mission technology with project formulator Randii Wessen and propulsion engineer Todd Barber. Afterward I took the opportunity to talk with Todd a bit about his role on the Cassini mission, for which he’s the lead propulsion engineer.
(You all know how much I adore Cassini, so that was a real treat.)
When we got back to Mission Control we had a chance to meet with and have photos taken with JPL’s very own “Mohawk guy” Bobak Ferdowsi, who achieved widespread fame during the internet broadcast landing of Curiosity. I had Bobak sign my toy Curiosity rover, which now has a “BF” on the back of its die-cast RTG. One for the space shelf!
The second half of the Social began early the next day — for me, very early. After getting up at 3:15 a.m. and making a two-hour drive from Pasadena to Barstow in the dark, I and the other participants met up with the Social bus in a park-and-ride lot at 6:00 just as the Sun was beginning to brighten the eastern sky. (Some had stayed overnight in Barstow, while others made the early drive out like I did.) Once the bus filled, we headed north into the Mojave to arrive at NASA’s Deep Space Network Communications Complex at Goldstone, located within the Fort Irwin military training area.
The 70-meter dish at NASA’s DSN complex at Goldstone (J. Major)
The location is rugged and remote — the perfect place to listen for the faint signals from spacecraft trundling across dusty Mars and soaring through the farthest reaches of the Solar System! The nine main DSN antennas at Goldstone are scattered across several square miles of desert, enormous dishes pointed more-or-less directly upward, aiming at the locations of distant spacecraft in order to both receive and transmit data. All of them are huge, but by far the most impressive is the gigantic 70-meter DSS-14 dish that towers above the rest in both height and width.
Recently renovated , the fully-positionable DSS-14 “Mars antenna” dish (so called because of its first mission tracking the Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965) weighs in at 2.7 million kilograms yet “floats” atop a thin film of oil a quarter of a millimeter thick!
How smoothly does a three-thousand-ton radar dish move? We got to find out — check out the video below:
(Note: as it turned out, DSS-14 wasn’t turning to communicate with anything… the show was just for us!)
Of course, we all spent plenty of time taking pictures of the 70-meter, both inside and out — we were treated to a tour of this and several other dish sites hosted by JPL’s Jeff Osman, a specialist in the DSN antennas and their operations.
(One of us even chose to record the DSS-14 antenna with pencils and paper — watch fellow Social participant Jedediah Dore’s sketch and account of the experience here.)
Jim Erickson, JPL’s Project Manager for the Mars Rovers and MRO, speaks during the 50th Anniversary Event (J. Major)
The highlight of the day at Goldstone was (if not just being there!) was being present for the official celebration of the facility’s 50th anniversary. Featuring speakers from JPL and DSN, as well as many esteemed guests, the event — held indoors because of strong winds outside — commemorated the impact and important contributions of the complex over the past half-century of space exploration. According to speaker Jim Erickson of JPL, “There hasn’t been a time in my career when the DSN wasn’t there for us.”
After that the NASA Social group was invited to take a few moments to mingle with speakers and guests — when else would I have a chance to chat with JPL director Dr. Charles Elachi? — and then we all returned to our own meeting room where refreshments were waiting and a (quite delicious) DSN50 cake was cut and served.
It was truly a fantastic and well-planned event, giving 50 people the chance to see an integral part of our space program that, although it doesn’t usually receive the same kind of exposure that rocket launches and planetary landings enjoy, makes all of it possible.
Here’s to 50 more years of DSN and its long-distance relationship with all of our intrepid space explorers!
__________________
See what communications are currently coming in and going out of the DSN dishes — in Goldstone as well as in Madrid and Canberra — here, and learn more about the history of Goldstone here.
And a big thanks to Courtney O’Connor, Veronica McGregor, John Yembrick, and Stephanie Smith for putting this NASA Social together, Annie Wynn and Shannon Moore for setting up and organizing participant groups on Facebook and Google (which makes offsite planning so much easier), Jeff Osman and Shannon McConnell for the tours of the DSN sites and, of course, everyone at JPL and Goldstone who helped to make the event a wonderful success!
Would you like to be a part of a NASA Social? Find out what events are coming up and how to apply for them here.
Curiosity maneuvers into ‘Kimbeley’ and scans scientifically intriguing Martian rock outcrops in search of next drilling location exhibiting several shallow hills in foreground and dramatic Gale crater rim backdrop. Rover tracks at right in this colorized Navcam photomosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 589, April 3, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com
Curiosity maneuvers into ‘Kimbeley’ and scans scientifically intriguing Martian rock outcrops in search of next drilling location exhibiting several shallow hills in foreground and dramatic Gale crater rim backdrop. Rover tracks at right in this colorized Navcam photomosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 589, April 3, 2014.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Marco Di Lorenzo /Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com[/caption]
NASA’s car sized Curiosity rover has arrived at a scientifically enticing science destination at “The Kimberley Waypoint” where researchers hope to carry out the next drilling operation into alien Martian terrain in search of further clues about ancient Red Planet environments that may have been favorable for life.
“We are officially in ‘The Kimberley’ now,” Curiosity Principal Investigator John Grotzinger, of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, told Universe Today.
Since arriving in the Kimberley region, Curiosity’s earth-bound handlers have been maneuvering the 1 ton robot to thoroughly survey the destination dubbed “The Kimberley”.
Why was Kimberley chosen as a science destination?
“The Kimberley” has interesting, complex stratigraphy,” Grotzinger told me.
The team moved the six wheeled robot further this week in search of a suitable location to conduct the next drilling operation. The terrain is replete with diverse rock types and extensive outcrops.
I asked Grotzinger if today’s (April 5) location at ‘The Kimberley’ is the intended drill site?
“It’s a possible drill site,” Grotzinger replied.
“Pending further evaluation,” he noted.
Curiosity scans scientifically intriguing rock outcrops of Martian terrain at ‘The Kimberley’ waypoint in search of next drilling location, beside low hill at right. Mastcam color photomosaic assembled from raw images snapped on Sol 590, April 4, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Curiosity drove the final stretch of some 98 feet (30 meters) on Wednesday, April 2, required to arrive at a major stopping waypoint planned since early 2013 for up close study of the Red Planet’s rocks.
Along the recent dune filled path to ‘The Kimberley’, Curiosity snapped breathtaking landscapes around the irresistible ‘Junda’ outcrop, much like a tourist.
See our photomosaics showing the spectacularly inviting terrain around Kimberly and Junda, above and below, by Marco Di Lorenzo and Ken Kremer.
Martian landscape with rows of curved rock outcrops at ‘Kimberly’ in the foreground and spectacular Mount Sharp on the horizon. NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover pulled into Kimberly waypoint dominated by layered rock outcrops as likely drilling site. This colorized navcam camera photomosaic was assembled from imagery taken on Sol 576 (Mar. 20, 2014). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Marco Di Lorenzo/Ken Kremer-kenkremer.com
The state-of-the-art robot now sits at a vantage point at “The Kimberley” enabling a detailed photographic survey of the rock exposures and surroundings with the high resolution Mastcam cameras.
The new imagery will be used to select the most scientifically productive drilling locations.
“It is named after a remote region of western Australia,” Grotzinger informed me.
The team chose Kimberley because its lies at the intersection of four different types of rocks, including striated rocks overlain by others and deposited in a decipherable geological relationship to each other.
Researchers directed Curiosity on a pinpoint drive to ‘Kimberley’ after high resolution imagery and mineral mapping spectrometry gathered by NASA’s powerful telescopic cameras aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) circling overhead piqued their interest.
Curiosity looks back at Martian sand dunes and rover tracks after passing by Junda outcrop (right) on Sol 548 (Feb. 19, 2014) with Gale Crater rim and Mount Sharp on the distant horizon. Navcam colorized photomosaic. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer- kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
“This is the spot on the map we’ve been headed for, on a little rise that gives us a great view for context imaging of the outcrops at the Kimberley,” said Melissa Rice, Curiosity science planning lead, of Caltech.
The team expects Curiosity to investigate Kimberley for several weeks of observations, including sample-drilling and onboard laboratory analysis of the area’s rocks with the CheMin and SAM miniaturized chemistry labs.
If drilling is warranted, Kimberley would be the site of Curiosity’s first drilling operation since boring into the ‘John Klein’ and ‘Cumberland’ outcrop targets during the spring of 2013 at Yellowknife Bay.
The robot has conducted cleaning activities of SAM, CheMin and the CHIMRA sample handling mechanism in anticipation of boring into the Martian outcrops and delivering powdery, pulverized samples of cored Martian rocks to SAM and CheMin – waiting patiently inside the robots belly to eat something exciting from the Red Planet.
Curiosity departed the Yellowknife Bay region in July 2013 where she discovered a habitable zone and thereby accomplished the primary goal of the mission.
To date, Curiosity’s odometer totals 3.8 miles (6.1 kilometers) since landing inside Gale Crater on Mars in August 2012. She has taken over 137,000 images.
The sedimentary foothills of Mount Sharp, which reaches 3.4 miles (5.5 km) into the Martian sky, is the 1 ton robots ultimate destination inside Gale Crater because it holds caches of water altered minerals. Such minerals could possibly indicate locations that sustained potential Martian life forms, past or present, if they ever existed.
Curiosity has some 4 kilometers to go to reach the base of Mount Sharp.
She may arrive at the lower reaches of Mount Sharp sometime in the latter half of 2014, but must first pass through a potentially treacherous dune field.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Curiosity, Opportunity, Chang’e-3, SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, LADEE, MAVEN, MOM, Mars and more planetary and human spaceflight news.
Learn more at Ken’s upcoming presentations at the NEAF convention on April 12/13 and at Washington Crossing State Park, NJ on April 6.
Map of Curiosity Mars Rover’s Drives to ‘the Kimberley’ Waypoint. This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover during March and April 2014 in its approach to and arrival at a waypoint called “the Kimberley,” which rover team scientists chose in 2013 as the location for the mission’s next major investigations. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
