Curiosity zaps first Martian rock

The rover Curiosity has zapped a fist-sized Martian rock with its laser, producing a cloud of ionized plasma that will be analyzed by Curiosity’s spectrometers.

The rock – christened “Coronation” by NASA scientists – was subjected to 30 laser pulses over 10-second period. Each laser pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The tell-tale colors in the resultant rock plasma were captured by the rover’s ChemCam camera and will be analyzed by the on-board spectrometers.

NASA scientists say they aren’t expecting any major revelations from Coronation’s analysis, stressing that the inaugural rock zap was only a test run. “The goal of this initial use of the laser on Mars was to serve as target practice for characterizing the instrument,” noted ChemCam Principal Investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

ChemCam Deputy Project Scientist Sylvestre Maurice added that the results from the test were better than expected. “It’s surprising that the data are even better than we ever had during tests on Earth, in signal-to-noise ratio,” he noted. “It’s so rich, we can expect great science from investigating what might be thousands of targets with ChemCam in the next two years.”

The researchers will now check whether the composition of the rock plasma changed as the laser pulses progressed. If it did change, that could indicate dust or other surface material being penetrated to reveal different composition beneath the surface.

Related:
Discuss this article in our forum
First 3-D images from Curiosity
Orbiter captures Curiosity’s descent
Curiosity Live: countdown to Mars landing

Source: NASA

, , ,

Comments are closed.

MONO The Old Curiosity Shop BEN WOLSTENHOLME SKETCHBOOK 2016 SDCC AUTOGRAPHED picture

MONO The Old Curiosity Shop BEN WOLSTENHOLME SKETCHBOOK 2016 SDCC AUTOGRAPHED

$24.99



RARE Giant Crab Taxidermy, Giant Lobster Taxidermy Curiosity picture

RARE Giant Crab Taxidermy, Giant Lobster Taxidermy Curiosity

$1250.00



WeArtDoing Can Of Curiosity The Little Cthulhu Limited Art Toy Anime Model Stock picture

WeArtDoing Can Of Curiosity The Little Cthulhu Limited Art Toy Anime Model Stock

$285.00



RARE Japanese Star Sand 1” Vial Oddity Curiosity Weird Collectable Strange Odd picture

RARE Japanese Star Sand 1” Vial Oddity Curiosity Weird Collectable Strange Odd

$9.90



b17  Cocoon Unhatched Silk Moth glass Dome Entomology Oddity Curiosity display picture

b17 Cocoon Unhatched Silk Moth glass Dome Entomology Oddity Curiosity display

$13.99



Ferris Wheel Press FerriTales| Down the Rabbit Hole 20ml Ink Collection picture

Ferris Wheel Press FerriTales| Down the Rabbit Hole 20ml Ink Collection

$21.50



Q70d LG Beetle Damaged Chalcosoma Atlas (CA) Oddities Curiosity Specimen Insect picture

Q70d LG Beetle Damaged Chalcosoma Atlas (CA) Oddities Curiosity Specimen Insect

$9.99



Glass Jar of Large Cicada Skins oddity curiosity nature enthusiasts insect molt picture

Glass Jar of Large Cicada Skins oddity curiosity nature enthusiasts insect molt

$13.99



WeArtDoing Can Of Curiosity The Little Mermaid Limited Art Toy Anime Model Stock picture

WeArtDoing Can Of Curiosity The Little Mermaid Limited Art Toy Anime Model Stock

$285.00



15 Bugs in Acrylic Block Resin Educational Insects Taxidermy Curiosity picture

15 Bugs in Acrylic Block Resin Educational Insects Taxidermy Curiosity

$80.00



Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes