A mysterious bright object lying on the Martian surface has delayed the Curiosity rover’s soil sampling activities until mission control can identify the object. NASA said Curiosity’s first scooping activity appeared to go well but the rover team decided to refrain from using the rover’s robotic arm any further due to concerns the object on […]
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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 […]
First 3-D images from Curiosity
On its first Martian day, the rover has been self-checking its health and so far all activities appear to be completely nominal. Approximately five megabytes of data were successfully relayed back to Earth from NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter during its overpass today. Activities planned for the mission’s approximately one-month characterization activity phase include deploying Curiosity’s […]
Orbiter captures Curiosity’s descent
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has transmitted to Earth an astounding picture of the rover Curiosity as it descends by parachute towards the surface of Mars. The rover was still encased in its protective shell when the picture was taken. Moments later, the shell and parachute were jettisoned and the rover began its powered descent into […]
Live! Curiosity: countdown to Mars landing
Curiosity Transmitting… The first thumbnail pics have been transmitted from its low-res hazcams. The rover’s shadow can be seen in the picture. Control of the mission will now be passed to the surface team. “Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars. Curiosity, the most sophisticated rover […]