Latest Martian soil Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA announced on Thursday during a teleconference that its Curiosity rover has experienced its first whirlwind on Mars. Although the rover did not snap a photo of the whirlwind, Curiosity's Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) was able to help detect the dust devil. REMS detected brief dips in air pressure, along with a change in wind direction, leading NASA scientists to determine that there was a whirlwind passing by...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Curiosity got a taste of solids from the Martian surface on November 9th, when a pinch of fine sand and dust was deposited in the biggest instrument on the rover: the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). SAM is located inside the rover and examines the chemistry of samples it ingests, checking specifically for chemistry related to supporting life. The sample was delivered to an inlet port on the rover deck by Curiosity's robotic arm. For...
PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has completed initial experiments showing the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to weathered basaltic soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) The minerals were identified in the first sample of Martian soil ingested recently by the rover. Curiosity used its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin) to obtain the results, which are...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA announced on Tuesday the first analysis of Martian soil by the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) experiment on NASA's Curiosity rover. The soil sample taken during Curiosity's third scoop on October 15 revealed the presence of crystalline feldspar, pyroxenes and olivine mixed with some amorphous (non-crystalline) material. NASA said that the soil sample taken within Gale Crater resembles what could be found in volcanic soils...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Curiosity has taken in its first Martian soil sample into its laboratory on board in search for extraterrestrial life on Mars. The sample is being analyzed inside the rover's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument to determine what minerals the soil sample contains. "We are crossing a significant threshold for this mission by using CheMin on its first sample," according to Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger of the...
[ Watch the Video: Curiosity's First Scoopful of Mars ] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Curiosity dug up its first Martian soil over the weekend, collecting a scoopful of sand and powdery material at the "Rocknest" site. NASA confirmed the success of the rover's digging, and said that imaging verified collection of the sample. The collected material will be used for cleaning and interior surfaces of the rover's sample-handling mechanism, according to the...
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Curiosity rover is in a position on Mars where scientists and engineers can begin preparing the rover to take its first scoop of soil for analysis. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Curiosity is the centerpiece of the two-year Mars Science Laboratory mission. The rover's ability to put soil samples into analytical instruments is central to assessing whether its present location on Mars, called...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online NASA's Curiosity rover has sent back a Martian weather report, showing surprisingly mild daytime temperatures. The rover's Remote Environment Monitoring Station (REMS) is the latest Martian meteorologist, and it has been keeping NASA updated with the weather on the Red Planet around Gale Crater. The latest data shows the average daytime air temperatures have reached a peak of 42 degrees Fahrenheit on Mars around Curiosity....
Whitney Heins, University of Tennessee, Knoxville NASA’s Curiosity rover is scheduled to land on Mars Sunday. Then, the work will begin for two University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professors searching for potentially habitable environments on the red planet. Linda Kah and Jeffrey Moersch, associate professors in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, are an integral part of the NASA team working on the rover. The Curiosity rover is looking for clues to whether the Martian...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online According to a new study to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, NASA's new Curiosity rover may be capable of digging deep enough to find evidence of ancient life on Mars. The findings suggest optimal depths and locations to probe for organic molecules like those that compose living organisms could be reached through the Curiosity rover, which is expected to land on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012. If there is any evidence...
