Mars Archives

January 22, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

NASA Stars at 2013 Presidential Inaugural Parade with Orion and Curiosity – Photos and Video

Image caption: Orion deep space crew capsule float passes in front of the White House at the Presidential Inaugural parade on Jan 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: NASA

NASA’s new Orion deep space crew capsule and sensational Curiosity Mars rover had starring roles at the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Parade held on Monday, Jan 21, 2013 in Washington D.C.

NASA photographers captured stunning photos and video (above and below) as Orion and Curiosity passed in front of the White House and the official reviewing stand – with President Obama & VP Joe Biden and their families and numerous dignitaries smiling and waving.

Beautiful weather shined though out the entire day’s festivities and into the early evening as full size models of Orion and Curiosity made their way thought the capitol streets to participate in the 2013 Inaugural parade.

NASA’s floats prominently placed near the front of the parade and seen on Live TV about 530 PM EDT as well as by about a million spectators on hand.

Image caption: Curiosity Mars rover float passes in front of the White House and reviewing stand at the Presidential Inaugural parade on Jan 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: NASA

The fantastically successful Curiosity rover is discovering widespread evidence for the ancient flow of liquid water on Mars.

The Orion multi-purpose capsule will take our astronauts back to the Moon and farther into deep space than ever before.

NASA is the ONLY federal agency asked to be in the inaugural parade. Curiosity led the way followed by Orion.

Video of full-size models of the Curiosity Mars rover and Orion, the multi-purpose capsule that will take our astronauts farther into space than ever, as they appeared in the Washington, D.C. parade on Jan. 21.

Accompanying the NASA vehicles were members of the Curiosity team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and current and former astronauts Alvin Drew, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins, Mike Massimino, Lee Morin and Kjell Lindgren, as well as Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for Education, and John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for Science.

Be sure to check out NASA’s Flickr stream for many photos from the 2013 Inaugural Day festivities and parade – here and here

See my preview story – here

Ken Kremer

January 21, 2013December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

NASA’s Curiosity and Orion Shine at Presidential Inaugural Parade

Video caption: Preview of Mars Curiosity Parade Float. Jim Green, Director of the Science Mission Directorate Planetary Systems Division at NASA Headquarters, describes the replica of the Mars Curiosity Rover on the second NASA float in Monday’s (Jan 21, 2013) presidential inaugural parade. Parade photos below

Full scale models of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover and the Orion crew capsule are participating in the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Parade on Monday, Jan 21, 2013, in Washington, DC – representing NASA’s robotic and human spaceflight endeavors.

The fantastically successful Curiosity rover is discovering widespread evidence for the ancient flow of liquid water on Mars.

The Orion multi-purpose capsule will take our astronauts back to the Moon and farther into space than ever.

NASA is the ONLY federal agency asked to be in the inaugural parade and now Curiosity is leading the NASA group with Orion after Curiosity.

Update 530 PM EDT – NASA’s 2 floats just passed by a cheering and waving President Obama & VP Biden at the reviewing stand in front of the White House – prominently near the front of the parade. See float photos from the parade below

Walking alongside both floats are members of the Curiosity team from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory – including ‘Mohawk Guy’ – and several current and former astronauts.

The participating astronauts are Alvin Drew, Serena Aunon, Kate Rubins, Mike Massimino, Lee Morin and Kjell Lindgren, as well as Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for Education, and John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for Science.

The marching team for Curiosity includes Richard Cook-project manager (from JPL), Bobak Ferdowsi (otherwise known as ‘Mohawk Guy’)-flight director (from JPL), Dave Lavery – program executive (from NASA Headquarters) , Michael Meyer – program Scientist (from NASA Headquarters), Jennifer Trosper-mission manager (from JPL) and Ashwin Vasavada, Deputy Project Scientist (from JPL)

Image caption: Orion crew capsule float with NASA astronauts at the Presidential Inaugural parade on Jan 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: NASA

Image caption: Curiosity float with team members at the Presidential Inaugural parade on Jan 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. Credit: NASA

Be sure to check out NASA’s Flickr stream for many photos from the 2013 Inaugural Day festivities and parade – here and here

Here’s another video about the Curiosity float:

Ken Kremer

Image caption: Orion crew capsule arrives in Washington, DC, for Presidential Inaugural parade on Jan 21, 2013. Credit: NASA

January 19, 2013June 5, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Watery Science ‘Jackpot’ Discovered by Curiosity

Curiosity found widespread evidence for flowing water in the highly diverse, rocky scenery shown in this photo mosaic from the edge of Yellowknife Bay on Sol 157 (Jan 14, 2013). The rover will soon conduct 1st Martian rock drilling operation at flat, light toned rocks at the outcrop called “John Klein”, at center. ‘John Klein’ drill site and ‘Sheep Bed’ outcrop ledges to right of rover arm are filled with numerous mineral veins and spherical concretions which strongly suggest precipitation of minerals from liquid water. ‘Snake River’ rock formation is the linear chain of rocks protruding up from the Martian sand near rover wheel. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

The Curiosity rover hit the science “jackpot” and has discovered widespread further evidence of multiple episodes of liquid water flowing over ancient Mars billions of years ago when the planet was warmer and wetter, scientists announced. The watery evidence comes in the form of water bearing mineral veins, cross-bedded layering, nodules and spherical sedimentary concretions.

Any day now NASA’s mega robot will be instructed to drill directly into veined rocks where water once flowed, the team announced at a media briefing this week.

Delighted researchers said Curiosity surprisingly found lots of evidence for light-toned chains of linear mineral veins inside fractured rocks littering the highly diverse Martian terrain – using her array of ten state-of-the-art science instruments. Veins form when liquid water circulates through fractures and deposit minerals, gradually filling the insides of the fractured rocks over time.

Sometime in the next two weeks or so, NASA’s car sized rover will carry out history’s first ever drilling inside a Martian rock that was “percolated” by liquid water – an essential prerequisite for life as we know. A powdered sample will then be delivered to the robots duo of analytical chemistry labs (CheMin & SAM) to determine its elemental composition and ascertain whether organic molecules are present.

The drill target area is named “John Klein” outcrop, in tribute to a team member who was the deputy project manager for Curiosity at JPL for several years and who passed away in 2011.

“We identified a potential drill target and are preparing to do drill activities in the next two weeks. We are ready to go,” said Richard Cook, the project manager of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

“Drilling [into a rock] is the most significant engineering activity since landing. It is the most difficult aspect of the surface mission, interacting with an unknown surface terrain, and has never been done on Mars. We will go slowly. It will take some time to deliver samples to CheMin and SAM and will be a great set of scientific measurements.”

Image caption: Mineral veins of calcium sulfate discovered by Curiosity at ‘Sheepbed’ Outcrop. These veins form when water circulates through fractures, depositing minerals along the sides of the fracture, to form a vein. These vein fills are characteristic of the stratigraphically lowest unit in the “Yellowknife Bay” area where Curiosity is currently exploring and were imaged on Sol 126 (Dec. 13, 2012) by the telephoto Mastcam camera. Image has been white-balanced. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“The scientists have been let into the candy store,” said Cook referring to the unexpected wealth of science targets surrounding the rover at this moment.

“There is a high diversity of rocks types here to characterize,” added Mike Malin, Mastcam principal investigator of Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS). “We see layering, veins and concretions. The area is still undergoing some changes.”

Curiosity is just a few meters away from ‘John Klein’ and will drive to the site shortly from her location inside ‘Yellowknife Bay’ beside the ‘Snake River’ rock formation. To see where Curiosity is in context with ‘John Klein’ and “Snake River’, see our annotated context mosaic (by Ken Kremer & Marco Di Lorenzo) as the rover collects data at a rock ledge.

The white colored veins were discovered over the past few weeks- using the high resolution mast- mounted imaging cameras and ChemCam laser firing spectrometer -at exactly the vicinity where Curiosity is currently investigating ; around a shallow basin called Yellowknife Bay and roughly a half mile away from the landing site inside Gale Crater.

“This lowest unit that we are at in Yellowknife Bay, the very farthest thing we drove to, turns out to be kind of the ‘jackpot’ unit here,” said John Grotzinger, the mission’s chief scientist of the California Institute of Technology. “It is literally shot through with these fractures and vein fills.”

Image caption: ‘John Klein’ Site Selected for Curiosity’s Drill Debut. This view shows the patch of veined, flat-lying rock selected as the first drilling site. The rover’s right Mast Camera equipped with a telephoto lens, was about 16 feet (5 meters) away from the site when it recorded this mosaic on sol 153 (Jan. 10, 2013). The area is shot full of fractures and veins, with the intervening rock also containing concretions, which are small spherical concentrations of minerals. Enlargement A shows a high concentration of ridge-like veins protruding above the surface. Some of the veins have two walls and an eroded interior. Enlargement B shows that in some portions of this feature, there is a horizontal discontinuity a few centimeters or inches beneath the surface. The discontinuity may be a bed, a fracture, or potentially a horizontal vein. Enlargement C shows a hole developed in the sand that overlies a fracture, implying infiltration of sand down into the fracture system. Image has been white-balanced. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Shortly after landing the team took a calculated gamble and decided to take a several months long detour away from the main destination of the towering, sedimentary mountain named Mount Sharp, and instead drive to an area dubbed ‘Glenelg’ and home to ‘Yellowknife Bay’, because it sits at the junction of a trio of different geologic terrains. Glenelg exhibits high thermal inertia and helps put the entire region in better scientific context. The gamble has clearly payed off.

“We chose to go there because we saw something anomalous, but wouldn’t have predicted any of this from orbit,” said Grotzinger.

The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument found elevated levels of calcium, sulfur and hydrogen. Hydrogen is indicative of water.

The mineral veins are probably comprised of calcium sulfate – which exists in several hydrated (water bearing) forms.

“The ChemCam spectra point to a composition very high in calcium. These veins are likely composed of hydrated calcium sulfate, such as bassinite or gypsum, depending on the hydration state,” said ChemCam team member Nicolas Mangold of the Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes in France. “On Earth, forming veins like these requires water circulating in fractures and occur at low to moderate temperatures.”

The newly found veins appear quite similar to analogous veins discovered in late 2011 by NASA’s Opportunity rover – Curiosity’s older sister – inside Endeavour crater and nearly on the opposite side of Mars. See our Opportunity vein mosaic featured at APOD on Dec. 11, 2011 to learn more about veined rocks.

“What these vein fills tell us is water moved and percolated through these rocks, through these fracture networks and then minerals precipitated to form the white material which ChemCam has concluded is very likely a calcium sulfate, probably hydrated in origin,” Grotzinger explained.

“So this is the first time in this mission that we have seen something that is not just an aqueous environment, but one that also results in precipitation of minerals, which is very attractive to us.”

Yellowknife Bay and the ‘John Klein’ drilling area outcrop are chock full of mineral veins and sedimentary concretions.

“When you put all this together it says that basically these rocks were saturated with water. There may be several phases to this history of water, but that’s still to be worked out.”

“This has been really exciting and we can’t wait to start drilling,” Grotzinger emphasized.

Curiosity can drill about 2 inches (5 cm) into rocks. Ultimately a powdered sample about half an aspirin tablet in size will be delivered to SAM and CheMin after a few weeks. All rover systems and instruments are healthy, said Cook.

Grotzinger said that Curiosity will be instructed to drive over the veins to try and break them up and expose fresh surfaces for analysis. Then she will drill directly into a vein and hopefully catch some of the surrounding material as well.

“This will reveal the mineralogy of the vein filling material and how many hydrated mineral phases are present. The main goal is this will give us an assessment of the habitability of this environment.”

As the rover has driven down the shallow depression to deeper stratigraphic layers, the units are older in time.

After the first drill sample is fully analyzed, Grotzinger told me that the team will reevaluate whether to drill into a second rock.

The team doesn’t yet know whether the flowing water from which the veins precipitated was a more neutral pH or more acidic. “It’s too early to tell. We need to drill into the rock to tell and determine the mineralogy,” Grotzinger told me. Neutral water is more hospitable to life.

How long the episodes of water flowed is not yet known and it’s a complex history. But the water was at least hip to ankle deep at times and able to transport and round the gravel.

“There are a broad variety of sedimentary rocks here, transported from elsewhere. Mars was geologically active in this location, which is totally cool !,” said Aileen Yingst, MAHLI deputy principal investigator. ”There are a number of different transport mechanisms in play.”

Image caption: Curiosity’s Traverse into Different Terrain. This image maps the traverse of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity from “Bradbury Landing” to “Yellowknife Bay,” with an inset documenting a change in the ground’s thermal properties with arrival at a different type of terrain. credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/CAB(CSIC-INTA)/FMI

Drilling goes to the heart of the mission and will mark a historic feat in planetary exploration – as the first time that an indigenous sample has been cored from the interior of a rock on another planet and subsequently analyzed by chemical spectrometers to determine its elemental composition and determine if organic molecules are present .

The high powered hammering drill is located on the tool turret at the end of the car-sized robots 7 foot (2.1 meter) long mechanical arm . It is the last of Curiosity’s ten instruments that remains to be checked out and put into action.

Curiosity landed on the Red Planet five months ago inside Gale Crater to investigate whether Mars ever offered an environment favorable for microbial life, past or present and is now nearly a quarter of the way through her two year prime mission.

Curiosity might reach the base of Mount Sharp by the end of 2013, which is about 6 miles (10 km) away as the Martian crow flies.

Ken Kremer

Image Caption: Calcium-Rich Veins in Martian Rocks. This graphic shows close-ups of light-toned veins in rocks in the “Yellowknife Bay” area of Mars together with analyses of their composition. The top part of the image shows a close-up of the rock named “Crest,” taken by the remote micro-imager (RMI) on Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument above the analysis of the elements detected by using ChemCam’s laser to zap the target. The spectral profile of Crest’s light-colored vein is shown in red, while that of a basaltic calibration target of known composition is shown in black. The bottom part of the image shows ChemCam’s close-up of the rock named “Rapitan” with the analysis of its elemental composition. The spectral profile of Rapitan’s light-colored vein is shown in blue, while that of a basaltic calibration target of known composition is shown in black. These results suggest the veins are unlike typical basaltic material. They are depleted in silica and composed of a calcium-bearing mineral. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/LPGNantes/CNRS

Image caption: Curiosity will carry out 1st rock drilling at ‘John Klein’ outcrop visible in this time lapse mosaic showing movements of Curiosity rover’s arm on Sol 149 (Jan. 5, 2013) at Yellowknife Bay basin where the rover has found widespread evidence for flowing water. Curiosity discovered hydrated mineral veins and concretions around the rock ledge ahead . She next drove there for contact science near the slithery chain of narrow protruding rocks known as ‘Snake River. Photomosaic stitched from Navcam raw images and colorized. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

January 18, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Gorgeous Images: Ancient River on Mars?

Perspective view of Reull Vallis. ESA’s Mars Express imaged the striking upper part of the Reull Vallis region of Mars with its high-resolution stereo camera last year. Reull Vallis, the river-like structure in these images, is believed to have formed when running water flowed in the distant martian past, cutting a steep-sided channel through the Promethei Terra Highlands before running on towards the floor of the vast Hellas basin. Credit and Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The Mars Express has long been taking pictures of what appears to be an ancient riverbed on Mars. In fact, Reull Vallis was one of the first objects on the Red Planet that Mars Express ever imaged back in 2004 when the spacecraft arrived in orbit. The latest images show the sinuous river-like feature that stretches for nearly 1,500 km across the Martian landscape. This winding depression is 6-10 km wide, and its depth varies from 100-600 meters. In comparison, the Amazon River on Earth is about 6,500 km long and 11 km wide in places.

So, is this really an ancient river?

High-Resolution Stereo Camera image of Reul Vallis taken on May 14, 2012 by ESA’s Mars Express. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Planetary scientists seem to be fairly unanimous that, from orbit, this appears to be a riverbed. There is a system of tributaries and side channels that all appear to flow into the huge Hellas Basin.

There are various theories as to how it may have formed, however. Some scientists say that this feature may have been created quickly in a sudden deluge or runoff event, as the entire system look like stream beds cut by sudden runoff in desert regions on the Earth.

Reull Vallis in context. Credit: NASA MGS MOLA Science Team.

Others suggest this system consists of parts that were formed during several phases rather than being a single continuous channel, and likely had independent formation phases and different sources of water. For example, numerous crescent-shaped features could be older craters distorted by water flow.

There is also evidence of deposits of volatiles in the walls of the channel that could be ice.

In the wider context image above, the tributary intersecting the main channel appears to be part of a forking of the main valley into two distinct branches further upstream before merging back into a single main valley.

The right (northern) part of the main image is dominated by the Promethei Terra Highlands with their high and soft-rounded mountains shown in these images, rising around 2500 m above the surrounding flat plains.

The perspective view below shows one of these mountains with nearby sediment-filled impact craters:

This computer-generated perspective view shows part of the Promethei Terra highlands adjacent to Reull Vallis. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

What about lava flow? Could this be a giant lava flow or tube that has collapsed? Astronomers say that lava and glacial erosion would have produced very different channels.

And so it appears Reull Vallis provides evidence of past water on Mars. And if so, it means that the planet’s climate has changed dramatically since these features were formed between 3.5 billion and 1.8 billion years ago.

One of the first images taken by Mars Express in 2004 of Reull Vallis. Credit: Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Sources: ESA Science paper from 1997 by Scott Mest and David Crown, University of Pittsburgh, Paper by Kostama, et al, 2007, ESA 2004.

January 14, 2013April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Rover Team Chooses 1st Rock Drilling Target for Curiosity

Image caption: Time lapse mosaic shows Curiosity rover’s arm movement from raised position to surface deployment on Sol 149 (Jan. 5) for contact science near the lower point of the slithery chain of narrow protruding rocks known as ‘Snake River’ – located inside the basin called “Yellowknife Bay’. The rover team will soon conduct historic first rock drilling in these surroindings. Curiosity has now driven to the larger, broken rock just above, right of the sinuous ‘Snake River’ rock formation. Photomosaic was stitched from Navcam raw images and is colorized with patches of sky added to fill in image gaps. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

A team of Mars scientists and engineers have chosen the 1st rock drilling target for NASA’s Curiosity rover after carefully considering a range of options over the past several weeks at the robots current location inside a shallow depression known as ‘Yellowknife Bay’, which is replete with light toned rocks.

An official NASA announcement with further information is forthcoming on Tuesday this week, according to a source for this report.

Curiosity is now conducting a detailed science evaluation of the vicinity around a slithery chain of rocks called ‘Snake River’, jutting up from the sandy, rock strewn Martian floor – see our illustrative photo mosaics above & below and earlier story here.

The first report of the drill target selection came just a day ago from Craig Covault at NASA Watch/Spaceref in an article, here – featuring our ‘Snake River’ time lapse mosaic (by Ken Kremer and Marco Di Lorenzo). The mosaic shows the arm in action deploying its science instruments and rotating to capture pictures with the MAHLI microscopic imager and contact science with the APXS mineral spectrometer.

The exact drilling spot has not been divulged but is likely near ‘Snake River’ and visible in our mosaics from Sol 149 and earlier Sols inside the ‘Yellowknife Bay’ basin – which exhibits cross bedding and is reminiscent of a dried up shoreline. Curiosity has now driven to the larger, broken rock just above, right of the sinuous ‘Snake River’ rock formation for up-close contact science investigations.

Image Caption: Before and after comparison of images of 1st ever rock brush off by Curiosity’s Dust Removal Tool (DRT) on Sol 150 (Jan 6, 2013), nearby to Snake River. Images taken by the high resolution Mastcam 100 camera, contrast enhanced. The brushed patch of rock target called “Ekwir_1” ‘is about 1.85 inches by 2.44 inches (47 millimeters by 62 millimeters). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Ken Kremer

The Mars Science Lab (MSL) team is coordinating with top JPL & NASA management to get approval for the drilling location chosen or select another rock.

The high powered hammering drill is located on the tool turret at the end of the car-sized robots 7 foot (2.1 meter) long mechanical arm.

The percussive drill is the last component of Curiosity’s ten state-of-the-art science instruments that remains to be checked out and put into action.

Rock samples collected from the first test bore holes will be pulverized and the powdery mix will initially be used to rinse the interior chambers of the drill mechanisms and cleanse out residual earthly contaminants – and then dumped. The same procedure was carried out at the windblown ‘Rocknest’ ripple with the initial scoops of soil to cleanse the CHIMRA sample processing systems.

So it’s likely to take several weeks and possible a month or more until sieved samples are finally delivered to the CheMin and SAM analytical chemistry labs on the rover deck for analysis of their inorganic and organic chemical composition.

Image caption: Photo mosaic shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover reaching out to investigate rocks at a spot inside Yellowknife Bay on Sol 132, Dec 19, 2012. In search of first drilling target the rover drove to a spot at the right edge of this mosaic called Snake River rock. Curiosity’s navigation camera captured the scene surrounding the rover with the arm deployed and the APXS and MAHLI science instruments on tool turret collecting imaging and X-ray spectroscopic data. Base of Mount Sharp visible at right. The mosaic is colorized with patches of sky added to fill in gaps. Click to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

As a prelude on Sol 150 (Jan 6.), the rover successfully brushed off one of the flat rocks around Snake River for the first time by using the motorized, wire-bristle brush on the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), built by Honeybee Robotics of NYC.

The brushing was completed on a rock target called ‘Ekwir_1’ – see our mosaic showing a before and after comparison of rock surface images snapped by the Mastcam-100 high resolution color camera.

Brushing is a key step prior to rock drilling and allows the team to much more easily gain insight into the rocks composition with the science instruments compared to the obscured view of a dust blanketed rock. Spirit & Opportunity also have Honeybee Robotics built brushes that have still endured throughout their years’ long miraculous lifetimes.

The team then commanded the rover to bump a bit closer to “slightly younger rocks in front of the rover,” says MSL team member Ken Herkenhoff.

“The contact science activities in the current location went well, including the first brushing of the surface. In order to characterize the geology and chemistry of the rocks at the edge of Yellowknife Bay, we intend to repeat the set of brushing, APXS, MAHLI, ChemCam and Mastcam activities at the new location starting on Sol 152.”

“We are studying chemical and textural differences in the rocks near Snake River,” says Herkenhoff.

On Sol 152 (Jan. 8), Curiosity drove 2.5 meters closer to the area surrounding ‘Snake River’ and began snapping high resolution color imagery.

“It’s one piece of the puzzle,” says John Grotzinger, the mission’s chief scientist of the California Institute of Technology. “It has a crosscutting relationship to the surrounding rock and appears to have formed after the deposition of the layer that it transects.”

Grotzinger and the team are excited because Curiosity is a sort of time machine providing a glimpse into the Red Planets ancient history when the environment was warmer and wetter billions of years ago and much more conducive to the origin of life.

Ken Kremer

Image caption: Diagram shows all instruments on Tool turret on robotic arm. Credit: NASA

January 10, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Curiosity Rover Update: The Old Brush Off

This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the patch of rock cleaned by the first use of the rover's Dust Removal Tool (DRT). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Justin Lin from the Mars Science Laboratory team gives the latest video update from the Curiosity rover mission. For the first time the rover used its Dust Removal Tool, and the team is looking for a good rock to perform the first use of the drill.

You can see some of the panoramas that Lin talks about in our previous article, “Curiosity Touches Mars at Yellowknife Bay and Drives to Snake River for Drilling.”

January 6, 2013April 13, 2022 by Ken Kremer

Curiosity Touches Mars at Yellowknife Bay and Drives to Snake River for Drilling

Image Caption: Photo mosaic shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover in action reaching out to investigate rocks at a location called Yellowknife Bay on Sol 132, Dec 19, 2012 in search of first drilling target. The view is reminiscent of a dried up shoreline. Curiosity’s navigation camera captured the scene surrounding the rover with the arm deployed and the APXS and MAHLI science instruments on tool turret collecting microscopic imaging and X-ray spectroscopic data. The mosaic is colorized. See the full 360 degree panoramic and black & white versions below. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

Following the Christmas season break for panoramic imaging of her surroundings, NASA’s Curiosity robot has resumed roving around the shallow depression she reached before the holidays called ‘Yellowknife Bay’ and just arrived at a slithery rock called ‘Snake River’.

The top priority is to locate a target rock to drill into – and that momentous event could at last take place in the next week or so. The drill is the last of Curiosity’s suite of ten science instruments to be fully checked out and commissioned for use.

The drilling scene will look a lot like our photo mosaics, above and below, showing the robotic arm deployed for action. The drill is located on the tool turret at the end of the 7 foot (2.1 meter) long mechanical marvel.

The Curiosity research team is using the newly collected cache of high resolution color images to scan her surroundings in search of scientifically interesting rocks for the historic inaugural use of the high powered hammering drill.

Image Caption: Photo mosaic shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover in action reaching out to investigate rocks at a location called Yellowknife Bay on Sol 132, Dec 19, 2012. In search of first drilling target the rover drove to a spot at the right edge of this mosaic called Snake River rock. Curiosity’s navigation camera captured the scene surrounding the rover with the arm deployed and the APXS and MAHLI science instruments on tool turret collecting imaging and X-ray spectroscopic data. Base of Mount Sharp visible at right.The mosaic is colorized with patches of sky added to fill in gaps. Click to enlarge. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

The percussive drill will collect the first ever powdered samples from the interior of Martian rocks for analysis by a pair of state-of-the-art analytical chemistry instruments located inside the rover named SAM and CheMin.

“We are firing on all cylinders now and our last thing to do is drilling, and we really hope to start on that process beginning next week,” said John Grotzinger, the mission’s chief scientist of the California Institute of Technology, in an interview with Jonathan Amos of the BBC.

The rover is also using the APXS X-ray mineral spectrometer, ChemCam rock blasting laser and MAHLI hand lens imager to gather science characterization data helpful in choosing the drill target.

Today (Jan. 5) marks exactly 5 months since Curiosity’s hair-raisingly successfully touchdown on Aug. 5, 2012 on the gravelly plains of Gale Crater beside the towering foothills of Mount Sharp, a 3 mi (5 km) high layered mountain holding deposits of hydrated minerals. Mount Sharp is the main destination of Curiosity’s mission.

On Jan. 3 (Sol 147), Curiosity drove another 10 feet (3 meters) northwestward and pulled up to a sinuous rock feature called “Snake River” as part of a campaign to survey a variety of rocks from which to select the drilling site.

“It’s one piece of the puzzle,” says John Grotzinger. “It has a crosscutting relationship to the surrounding rock and appears to have formed after the deposition of the layer that it transects.”

‘Snake River’ sinuous Rock Feature Viewed by Curiosity Mars Rover on Sol 133. On Sol 147 (Jan 3. 2013), the rover drove to within arm’s reach of Snake river for up close examination as possible drill target. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Snake River is a thin curving line of darker rock cutting through flatter rocks and jutting above sand, says NASA. It’s located at the right side edge of our Sol 132 photo mosaic stitched together from raw images by the image processing team of Ken Kremer & Marco Di Lorenzo to provide a context view of the scenery – and were also featured at NBC News by Alan Boyle, BBC News, NASA Watch and the NY Daily News.

So far the robot has driven a total of 2,303 feet (702 meters) and snapped nearly 36,000 pictures.

Yellowknife Bay is a basin inside an area dubbed ‘Glenelg’ that features a flatter and lighter-toned type of terrain from what the mission crossed during its first four months inside Gale Crater. The rover descended about 2 feet (0.5 m) down a slight incline to reach the inside of the depression in December 2012.

“We’re down at the very lowest layer – what would be the oldest layer that we would see in this succession that might be five to eight meters thick, and that is very likely where we are going to choose our first drilling target, because suddenly we’ve come into an area that represents a very high diversity of things we haven’t seen before,” said Grotzinger to the BBC.

“The place where Curiosity is right now is a small stack of layers – very impressive – and they could be 3-3.5 billion years old, and so we’re very excited about this because unlike the soil which we were analyzing before the holiday season – a loose, windswept patch of dirt on the surface of Mars – we’re now going to start digging down into the very ancient bedrock which we really built the rover to look at,” explained Grotzinger.

Image caption: Curiosity peaks around Yellowknife Bay on Sol 125, Dec 12, 2012. The rover has continued driving inside the basin in search of 1st rock drill target in Jan 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

The mission goal is to search for habitats and determine if Mars ever could have supported microbial life in the past or present during the 2 year primary mission phase.

“We use these layers as a sort of recording device of past events and conditions, and the rover has the same kind of analytical capability that we would use here on Earth to tell us about the early environmental conditions; and, if life had ever evolved, [whether it would] be the kind of environment that would have been conducive towards sustaining that life,” Grotzinger elaborated to the BBC.

Stay tuned.

Ken Kremer

Image Caption: Photo mosaic shows NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover in action reaching out to investigate rocks at a location called Yellowknife Bay on Sol 132, Dec 19, 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo

January 3, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Meteorite From Mars is Water-Rich

Meteorites from Mars, like NWA 7034 (shown here), contain evidence of Mars' watery past. Credit: NASA

Martian meteorite NWA 7034 weighs approximately 320 grams (11 ounces). Credit: NASA

A 2-billion-year-old rock found in the Sahara desert has been identified as a meteorite from Mars’ crust, and it contains ten times more water than any other Martian meteorite found on Earth. It also contains organic carbon. The age of the rock, called NWA 7034, would put its origins in the early era of the most recent geologic epoch on Mars, the Amazonian epoch. While its composition is different from any previously studied Martian meteorite, NASA says it matches surface rocks and outcrops that have been studied by Mars rovers and Mars-orbiting satellites.

“The contents of this meteorite may challenge many long held notions about Martian geology,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “These findings also present an important reference frame for the Curiosity rover as it searches for reduced organics in the minerals exposed in the bedrock of Gale Crater.”

This new class of meteorite was found in 2011 in the Sahara Desert. Designated Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, and nicknamed “Black Beauty,” it weighs approximately 320 grams (11 ounces). Research teams from the University of New Mexico, the University of California at San Diego and the Carnegie Institution in Washington analyzed mineral and chemical composition, age, and water content.

NWA 7034 is made of cemented fragments of basalt, rock that forms from rapidly cooled lava. The fragments are primarily feldspar and pyroxene, most likely from volcanic activity.

“This Martian meteorite has everything in its composition that you’d want in order to further our understanding of the Red Planet,” said Carl Agee, leader of the analysis team and director and curator at the University of New Mexico’s Institute of Meteoritics in Albuquerque. “This unique meteorite tells us what volcanism was like on Mars 2 billion years ago. It also gives us a glimpse of ancient surface and environmental conditions on Mars that no other meteorite has ever offered.”

There are about one hundred Martian meteorites that have been collected on Earth. They were all likely blasted off the Red Planet by either an asteroid or comet impact, and then spent millions of years traveling through space before falling to Earth.

Researchers theorize the large amount of water contained in NWA 7034 may have originated from interaction of the rocks with water present in Mars’ crust. The meteorite also has a different mixture of oxygen isotopes than has been found in other Martian meteorites, which could have resulted from interaction with the Martian atmosphere.

Scientists say the age of NWA 7034 is important because it is much older than most other Martian meteorites.

“We now have insight into a piece of Mars’ history at a critical time in its evolution,” said Mitch Schulte, program scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters.

Most Martian meteorites are divided into three rock types, named after three meteorites; Shergotty, Nakhla, and Chassigny. These “SNC” meteorites currently number about 110. Their point of origin on Mars is not known and recent data from lander and orbiter missions suggest they are a mismatch for the Martian crust. Although NWA 7034 has similarities to the SNC meteorites, including the presence of macromolecular organic carbon, this new meteorite has many unique characteristics.

“The texture of the NWA meteorite is not like any of the SNC meteorites,” said co-author Andrew Steele, who led the carbon analysis at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory. “This is an exciting measurement in Mars and planetary science. We now have more context than ever before to understanding where they may come from.”

Sources: NASA, Carnegie Institution for Science

This article was updated on 1/4/13.

January 2, 2013December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

New Images Show a “Living” Mars

A conception of an ancient and/or future Mars, flush with oceans, clouds and life. Credit: Kevin Gill.

A conception of an ancient and/or future Mars, flush with oceans, clouds and life. Credit: Kevin Gill

Over the years, scientists have found evidence revealing that an ocean may have covered parts of the Red Planet billions of years ago. Others suggest that a future terraformed Mars could be lush with oceans and vegetation. In either scenario, what would Mars look like as a planet alive with water and life? By combining data from several sources — along with a bit of creative license — software engineer Kevin Gill has created some gorgeous images showing concepts of what a “living Mars” might look like from orbit, turning the Red Planet into its own version of the Blue Marble.

“This was something that I did both out of curiosity of what it would look like and to improve the software I was rendering this in,” Gill said via email. “I am a software engineer by trade and certainly no planetary scientist, so with the exception of any parts derived from actual data, most of it is assumptions I made based on simply comparing the Mars terrain to similar features here on Earth (e.g. elevation, proximity to bodies of water, physical features, geographical position, etc) and then using the corresponding textures from the Blue Marble images to paint the flat image layer in a graphics program.”

For example, the view below is of the western hemisphere of Mars, with Olympus Mons on the horizon beyond the Tharsis Montes volcanoes and the Valles Marineris canyons near the center. Gill said the height of the clouds and atmosphere are largely arbitrary and set for the sake of appearance. The terrain is also exaggerated by about 10 times. The orbital “eye” view is about 10,000 km (~6,200 miles) from the surface.

This is a conception view of the Western hemisphere of Mars with oceans and clouds. Olympus Mons is visible on the horizon beyond the Tharsis Montes volcanoes and the Valles Marineris canyons near the center. Credit: Kevin Gill

“This wasn’t intended as an exhaustive scientific scenario as I’m sure (and expect) some of my assumptions will prove incorrect,” Gill said on Google+. “I’m hoping at least to trigger the imagination, so please enjoy!”

He outlined his steps in creating the images:

A two dimensional digital elevation model was first rendered in jDem846 (an open-source learning project of mine) using the MRO MOLA 128 pix/deg elevation dataset. In that model, I picked a sea level and scripted it such that terrain at or below that level was flat and blue.

The resulting model was then brought into GIMP were I painted in land features using a NASA Blue Marble Next Generation image for the source textures. There is no scientific reasoning behind how I painted it; I tried to envision how the land would appear given certain features or the effects of likely atmospheric climate. For example, I didn’t see much green taking hold within the area of Olympus Mons and the surrounding volcanoes, both due to the volcanic activity and the proximity to the equator (thus a more tropical climate). For these desert-like areas I mostly used textures taken from the Sahara in Africa and some of Australia. Likewise, as the terrain gets higher or lower in latitude I added darker flora along with tundra and glacial ice. These northern and southern areas textures are largely taken from around northern Russia. Tropical and subtropical greens were based on the rainforests of South America and Africa.

Finally, that image was brought back into jDem846 as a layer to be reapplied to the same MOLA dataset, but rendered as a spherical projection (like Google Earth). I scripted the model to apply a three-dimensional cloud layer, add an atmosphere, and dampen specular lighting on dry land and under clouds. There are some other scripted tweaks here and there.

Gill has also done other visualizations of Mars and also the Moon, which can be seen on his G+ or Flickr page.

January 1, 2013December 23, 2015 by Jason Major

New Study Shows Cosmic Rays Could Cause Alzheimer’s

Humans explore Mars in “Distant Shores,” an illustration by NASA artist Pat Rawlins

Cosmic rays from deep space could pose serious health risks to future astronauts on long-duration missions to Mars — even bringing on the memory-destroying symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the results of a new study from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

While NASA has its sights set on the human exploration of Mars within the next several decades, even with the best propulsion technology currently available such a mission would take about three years. Within that time, crew members would be constantly exposed to large amounts of radiation that we are protected from here by Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere. Some of this radiation comes in the form of protons from the Sun and can be blocked by adequate spacecraft shielding materials, but a much bigger danger comes from heavy high-energy particles that are constantly whipping across the galaxy, shot out of the hearts of exploding giant stars.

“Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them. One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete.”

– M. Kerry O’Banion, M.D., Ph.D.

While health risks from these high-mass, high-charged (HZE) particles have long been known, the exact nature of the damages they can cause to human physiology is still being researched — even more so now that Mars and asteroid exploration is on NASA’s short list.

Now, a team from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) in New York has announced the results of their research linking high-energy radiation — just like what would be encountered during a trip to Mars — to the degeneration of brain function, and possibly even the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

“Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts,” said M. Kerry O’Banion, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the senior author of the study. “The possibility that radiation exposure in space may give rise to health problems such as cancer has long been recognized. However, this study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”

In particular the team focused on iron ions, which are blasted into space by supernovae and are massive enough to punch through a spacecraft’s protective shielding.

“Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them,” O’Banion said. “One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete.”

By exposing lab mice to increasing levels of radiation and measuring their cognitive ability the researchers were able to determine the neurologically destructive nature of high-energy particles, which caused the animals to more readily fail cognitive tasks. In addition the exposed mice developed accumulations of a protein plaque within their brains, beta amyloid, the spread of which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease in humans.

“These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer’s disease,” said O’Banion. “This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions.”

While Mars explorers could potentially protect themselves from cosmic radiation by setting up bases in caves, empty lava tubes or beneath rocky ledges, which would offer the sort of physical shielding necessary to stop dangerous HZE particles, that would obviously present a new set of challenges to astronauts working in an already alien environment. And there’s always the trip there (and back again) during which time a crew would be very much exposed.

While this won’t — and shouldn’t — prevent a Mars mission from eventually taking place, it does add yet another element of danger that will need to be factored in and either dealt with from both health and engineering standpoints… or accepted as an unavoidable risk by all involved, including the public.

How much risk will be considered acceptable for the human exploration of Mars — and beyond? (NASA/Pat Rawlings)

Read more on the URMC news page here, and see the full experiment report here.

Illustrations for NASA by Pat Rawlings. See more of Rawling’s artwork here. Inset image: comparison of human brains without and with Alzheimer’s. Source: WHYY.