Different Tools for Different Purposes on Mars
This set of images from Mars shows the handiwork of different tools on three missions to the surface of Mars. The action of each of the tools has sometimes been referred to as drilling, but the functions of the tools have been different for each mission.On the left is a rock on which NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used the rock abrasion tool on the rover's robotic arm. Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, were each equipped with one of these tools to grind away the surface layer of rocks and expose interior rock material to examination, in place, by instruments on the rover. The diameter of the abraded circle is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) in diameter. The image was cropped from PIA06355, taken in June 2004 by Opportunity's Panoramic Camera at a target called "London" inside Endurance Crater.
The middle image shows a grid of shallow holes cut into icy soil by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander using the motorized rasp on the back of the scoop on the lander's robotic arm. Phoenix used the rasp to penetrate frozen soil too hard for just scraping with the front-edge blade of the scoop. Soil shavings generated by the rasp were picked up by the scoop for delivery into the lander's analytical instruments. The grid of rasped holes visible in this image, four holes across, is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide. The image was cropped from PIA10981, taken in July 2008 by Phoenix's Surface Stereo Imager of a trench called "Snow White."
On the right is the hole produced by the drill on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the first drilling into a rock on Mars to collect a sample from inside the rock. Flutes on the bit of the drill on Curiosity's robotic arm transport powdered material generated by drilling up into the drill, for later processing and delivery into analytical instruments inside the rover. The diameter of the hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters). The image was cropped from PIA16726, taken Feb. 8, 2013, by the Mars Hand Lens Imager on Curiosity's arm after that day's drilling at a target rock called "John Klein."
Views of Curiosity's Drill
These schematic drawings show a top view and a cutaway view of a section of the drill on NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. The section view on the right also indicates the flow of material within the drill bit.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Preparation on Earth for Drilling on Mars
The development of the Mars rover Curiosity's capabilities for drilling into a rock on Mars required years of development work. This is a group photo of some of the rocks used in bit development testing and lifespan testing in 2007, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.Most of the holes are the same diameter as holes Curiosity drills: 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters).
Development and testing models of drills for Curiosity have been used on many types of terrestrial rocks over a span of more than five years.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Tracks from Eastbound Drive on Curiosity's Sol 22
On Aug. 28, 2012, during the 22nd Martian day, or sol, after landing on Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover drove about 52 feet (16 meters) eastward, the longest drive of the mission so far. The drive imprinted the wheel tracks visible in this image. The rover's rear Hazard Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) took the image after the drive. Curiosity's front and rear Hazcams have fisheye lenses for enabling the rover to see a wide swath of terrain. This image has been processed to straighten the horizon.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Setting the Scene for Curiosity's First Drilling
From a position in the shallow "Yellowknife Bay" depression, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological diversity.A lip defining the edge of Yellowknife Bay is visible in the middle distance near the center of the image and in the farther distance on the right.
Shown in this panorama are the locations of the "Selwyn" section, the "John Klein" drill area, and the approximate distance between them. The Curiosity science team completed an extensive investigation of the chemical and textural properties of the rocks at these locations in advance of drilling at John Klein. This investigation included 25 analyses from the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), more than 1,000 images from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and more than 12,000 laser shots from the Chemistry and Camera instrument (ChemCam).
The scene is a combination of three mosaics taken on Sols (Martian days) 137, 138, and 141 of Curiosity's work on Mars (Dec. 24, 25 and 28, 2012). Each sol's images were acquired between about 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., local Mars solar time. Distances from the rover range from about 10 feet (3 meters) for the closest objects in the picture to about 100 feet (30 meters) for the most distant ones.
The mosaics have been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth.
This image was originally released without labels on Jan. 15, 2013, and can be found at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16701 .
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
First Curiosity Drilling Sample in the Scoop
This image from NASA's Curiosity rover shows the first sample of powdered rock extracted by the rover's drill. The image was taken after the sample was transferred from the drill to the rover's scoop. In planned subsequent steps, the sample will be sieved, and portions of it delivered to the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.The scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide.
The image was obtained by Curiosity's Mast Camera on Feb. 20, or Sol 193, Curiosity's 193rd Martian day of operations.
The image has been white-balanced to show what the sample would look like if it were on Earth. A raw-color version is also available.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Has a fossilized, reptilian spine been spotted on Mars by the Curiosity rover?
According to plenty of NASA watchers on the web, it's possible.
According to plenty of NASA watchers on the web, it's possible.
In the latest round of photos published by the space agency to the
Internet, one picture caught the attention of the eagle-eyed public
dedicated to poring over every pixel downloaded from the rover carefully
making its way across the Martian landscape.
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