After a perilous journey, NASA’s Mars Curiosity probe has reached an area that formed billions of years ago when the Red Planet’s waters disappeared.
This area of Mount Sharp Curiosity roams the land of Mars, rich in salty minerals that scientists say were left behind when streams and ponds dried up. As such, this area could hold tantalizing clues about how Martians functioned. The climate went from being similar to Earth’s to the frozen, arid desert that Curiosity explores today.
NASA has spotted salty minerals that enrich this area of Mount Sharp Mars reconnaissance vehicle Years before Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012.
Related: Curiosity Rover: 15 Amazing Images of Mars (Gallery)
When Curiosity finally took a closer look at Mount Sharp’s topography, the rover discovered a variety of rock types and past water marks, including popcorn-textured nodules, salty minerals such as sulfate magnesium, calcium sulfate (including gypsum), and sodium chloride, which is table salt. ordinary.
After calculating the pressures on the rotating drill at the end of the 7-foot-long (2 m) probe arm that is used to crush rock samples for analysis, the Curiosity team selected a rock dubbed ” Canaima” to drill and assemble Flight 36 for the mission. drill sample.
“As we did before each exercise, we dusted and then lowered the upper surface of Kanaima with pits,” said Curiosity project manager Cathia Zamora Garcia. statement. “The absence of scratches or indentations was an indication that it might be difficult to dig.”
The team then stopped to see if this posed a risk to Curiosity’s arm. Zamora Garcia explained that with a new drilling algorithm created to reduce the use of percussion, a hammering motion that drills use to penetrate hard surfaces, they decided to go ahead, no percussion n was needed.
The team will now analyze parts of the sample taken from Canaima using Curiosity’s chemical and mineralogical instrument and analyze the sample in the Mars instrument.
Curiosity summer road trip
To reach the sulphate-rich region, the Curiosity rover spent August traversing a narrow strip of sand surrounded by the name of Paraitepuy Pass. It took Curiosity more than a month to safely navigate this dangerous terrain, which shimmers among the high hills. Although Paraitepuy Pass is largely free of sharp rocks that can damage rover wheels, the sand can be dangerous for Curiosity; If its wheels lose traction, the rover could stall.
Rover drivers also had another challenge: the Martian sky was barred with surrounding hills, which meant Curiosity had to be carefully positioned so that its antennae were pointing toward Earth and could still be in contact with it. March orbitals.
As the team carefully navigated this trail, they were rewarded with some great photos from Curiosity’s Mastcam, especially a scenic photo of the area taken on August 14.
“We’re going to get new images every morning and feel amazed,” said Elena Amador French, Curiosity’s science operations coordinator, which manages the collaboration between science and engineering teams, in the release. “The sand hills were great. You can see perfect little mountain bike trails on it. And the slopes were beautiful, we got really close to the walls.
Although the Col de Paraitepuy has been cleared, Curiosity has a tough road ahead. This salty area comes with its own challenges – in particular, the rover operations team will have to calculate rocky terrain that makes it difficult to place Curiosity’s six wheels on stable ground.
If Curiosity is unstable, operators are unlikely to open the drill boom if it strikes the coarse rock.
“The more important the scientific discoveries, the more obstacles Mars throws at us,” said Amador French.
Curiosity will continue to explore this region, proving that after 10 years on Mars, the rover still has plenty of Earth to cover.
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