Resistant Features in 'Pahrump Hills' Outcrop This image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows an example of a type of geometrically distinctive feature that researchers are examining at a mudstone outcrop at the base of Mount Sharp.These features on the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop are accumulations of erosion-resistant materials. Similar-appearing features on Earth form when shallow bodies of water begin to evaporate and minerals precipitate from the concentrated brines.The width of the image covers about nine-tenths of an inch (2.2 centimeters) of the rock surface. This is a merged-focus image product combining information from multiple MAHLI images taken on Sept. 23, 2014, during the 758th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars.
10.02.2014Source: Jet Propulsion LaboratoryMars Rover Technology Adapted to Detect Gas LeaksCuriosity: Robot Geologist and Chemist in One!
This sort nonsense is downright harmful as it raises false expectations of unmanned missions and denigrates human achievement. I don't know whether it is deliberate or unconscious, but it is sure as annoying as hell.
Er... ...anybody considered that if Mt Sharp is indeed a sort of loose consolidation of aelioan deposits then it probably is going to be a bit less hard on the wheels than the base of the crater, where even the fluvial deposits don't appear to have been *extremely* rounded off? Of course, there *are* other interpretations of Mt Sharp...
Quote from: Dalhousie on 10/03/2014 09:52 pmThis sort nonsense is downright harmful as it raises false expectations of unmanned missions and denigrates human achievement. I don't know whether it is deliberate or unconscious, but it is sure as annoying as hell. On a semi-related note, the frequent focus on spin-offs kind of bothers me. It seems to me like it encourages a mindset of only caring about spaceflight if it does something directly beneficial to everyday life, as opposed to just for the sake of exploration or an increase of knowledge...
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has returned to the bottom of a three-story-slope to conduct close-up examinations of targets identified by an initial scouting climb.
NASA to Hold Dec. 8 Media Teleconference on Mars Rover Curiosity Observationshttp://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4396NASA will host a media teleconference at 9 a.m. PST (noon EST) Monday, Dec. 8, to discuss geological observations made by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.Teleconference participants will be:-- Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington-- Sanjeev Gupta, Curiosity science team member at Imperial College in London-- John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California-- Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity deputy project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in PasadenaCuriosity landed on Mars in 2012 in a crater 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter, dubbed Gale Crater. Researchers have since been using the rover to investigate the Red Planet to determine current environmental conditions and hunt for clues about the environments of ancient Mars. The rover currently is examining geological layers at the base of a layered mountain in the middle of the crater.Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at:http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudioVisuals for the teleconference will be posted at the start of the event at:http://go.nasa.gov/curiosityteleconThe teleconference and visuals will be streamed together at:http://www.ustream.tv/nasajplFor information about NASA's Curiosity rover mission, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/msl
11.18.2014Source: Jet Propulsion LaboratorySecond Time Through, Mars Rover Examines Chosen RocksNASA's Curiosity Mars rover has returned to the bottom of a three-story-slope to conduct close-up examinations of targets identified by an initial scouting climb.....http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1753