The Curiosity On Mars Thread.

shedweller

It could be anything. Or from anything! We have to remember that quite a few machines have gone to mars and although not all of them lived to tell the tale, any debris left after their crashes could tell a tale.
If something broke up on reentry the pieces would fall over a wide area, not to mention light pieces of plastic being carried in the winds.

I say the msl team should investigate that piece of 'plastic'

FoxyChickaTee

They definately have to investigate this!! How can they assume they know what it it is

shedweller

Educated guesses i suppose. I just remembered that the spectrometer on curiosity has a limited number of sample containers inside. This ensures cleanliness so i reckon they might not investigate this.

Capt'n Midnight

shedweller wrote: »

I say the msl team should investigate that piece of 'plastic'

Talk to the Russians

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_14 ended up measuring the compressibility of the lens cap, which landed right where the probe was to measure the soil

littlemac1980

Would hardly be worth wasting some lab time on this:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/00065/mhli/0065MH0039003000E1_DXXX.jpg

It's clearly just fallen off, probably as a result of the vibration of the scoop.

shedweller

It looks like a sweet wrapper!

Curiosity, have you been sneaking contraband onboard??:D

Cork boy 55

The rovers on twitter ‏@MarsCuriosity
it has 1.2 million followers
and it thinks its alive
not sure if its a he or a she

latest

Rocknest, the scene of the scoop. This 360º view shows the area of my sampling activity:
http://t.co/Y4wNFUva

unclebill98

Hi, new to the forum.

I have to say Nasa have got it spot on with the tweeter feed. Got me interested and hence this is my new fav forum :-)

shedweller

Looks like a second scoopful has been taken:


And here is the leftovers from the sieve:

Too Big for the Sieve

In this image, the scoop on NASA's Curiosity rover shows the larger soil particles that were too big to filter through a sample-processing sieve that is porous only to particles less than 0.006 inches (150 microns) across. After a full-scoop sample had been vibrated over the sieve, this held-back portion was returned to the scoop to be accessible for inspection by the rover's Mast Camera. The image is part of the first "decontamination" exercise by the Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis
(CHIMRA) tool on the end of the rover's arm, which includes the scoop, the sieve and other components.

The decontamination exercise involved scooping some soil, shaking it thoroughly inside the sample-processing chambers to scrub the internal surfaces, putting it through a sieve, dividing it into the appropriate portions and then discarding the sample. This process will be repeated three times. The rinse-and-discard cycles serve a quality-assurance purpose similar to a common practice in geochemical laboratory analysis on Earth.
This image was taken by Curiosity's right Mast Camera (Mastcam-100) on Oct. 10, 2012, the 64th sol, or Martian day, of operations. Scientists white-balanced the color in this view to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Mountainsandh

10.18.2012
Bright Particle in Hole Dug by Scooping of Martian Soil This image shows part of the small pit or bite created when NASA's Mars rover Curiosity collected its second scoop of Martian soil at a sandy patch called "Rocknest." The bright particle near the center of this image, and similar ones elsewhere in the pit, prompted concern because a small, light-toned shred of debris from the spacecraft had been observed previously nearby (PIA16230). However, the mission's science team assessed the bright particles in this scooped pit to be native Martian material rather than spacecraft debris.

This image was taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on Curiosity's arm during the 69th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 15, 2012), about a week after the scoop dug this hole. The view here covers an area of ground about 1.6 inches (4 centimeters) across.

Mountainsandh

and this, where the particle is embedded in the ... martian muck ?
10.15.2012
Bright Particle of Martian Origin in Scoop Hole This image contributed to an interpretation by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity science team that some of the bright particles on the ground near the rover are native Martian material. Other light-toned material nearby (see PIA16230) has been assessed as small debris from the spacecraft.

Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera took this image on the mission's 66th Martian day, or sol, (Oct. 12, 2012) showing part of the hole or bite left in the ground when Curiosity collected its first scoop of Martian soil five sols earlier. A clod of soil near the top center of the image contains a light-toned particle. The observation that the particle is embedded in the clod led scientists to assess this particle as Martian material, not something from the spacecraft. This assessment prompted the mission to continue scooping in the area, despite observations of a few light-toned particles in the area being scooped.

The image shows an area about 2 inches (5 centimeters) across. It is brightened to improve visibility in the shaded area.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

shedweller

This debris issue sure is turning into something!

shedweller

First Sample Placed on Curiosity's Observation Tray

The robotic arm on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity delivered a sample of Martian soil to the rover's observation tray for the first time during the mission's 70th Martian day, or sol (Oct. 16, 2012). This image taken later that same sol by the rover's left Mast Camera shows the sample on the tray. The tray is 3 inches (7.8 centimeters) in diameter.

The sample came from the third scoopful of material collected at the "Rocknest" patch of windblown dust and sand.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Those little squares are 1/4" wide. I read something on this inspection table and got the impression that the sample on it would then go to the chemin. Does the table tip over or am i barking up the wrong tree?

shedweller

Well lookie here, something that looks like concrete, with bits in it!


This other pic seems to be pointing in roughly the same direction so it gives an idea of what the area looks like.


I still can't get my head around the fact that it may have been a few billion years since anything flowed here!

Mountainsandh

http://www.exploremars.org/jpl-briefing-1-november-2012-2-pm-edtmethane-on-mars

a lot of rumours of methane on Mars... and whether it may be of biological or geological origin. This briefing might shed some light.

Tomk1

Mars rover finds 'Hawaii-type' soil
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1031/breaking12.html

Nasa's Mars rover Curiosity found soil that bears a striking resemblance to weathered, volcanic sand in Hawaii, scientists said yesterday.

Cool.. ok I'm a nerd, but this is cool.

shizz

Tomk1 wrote: »

Mars rover finds 'Hawaii-type' soil
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1031/breaking12.html


Cool.. ok I'm a nerd, but this is cool.

It's ok. You're in good company here

Chuck Stone

There's absolutely nothing nerdy about shooting a nuclear powered all wheel drive vehicle the size of a car across inter-planetary space to blast rocks on an alien planet with its with lasers.

2 stroke

Chuck Stone wrote: »

There's absolutely nothing nerdy about shooting a nuclear powered all wheel drive vehicle the size of a car across inter-planetary space to blast rocks on an alien planet with its with lasers.

Yeah, It's not exactly rocket science, is it?

DubOnHoliday

It would be great if they build another 10 copies of Curiosity and send them off to other suitable planets and moons. Super machine.

shizz

Something I just put together haha


Here is the original

shizz

Another self portrait from Curiosity. He's getting worse for the posing :pac:

shedweller

I see a hint of "duckface" there!:pac:

Chuck Stone

How was that self-portrait taken?

Shouldn't there be an arm extending to the camera?

Aiens?

Turtwig

Chuck Stone wrote: »

How was that self-portrait taken?

Shouldn't there be an arm extending to the camera?

Aiens?

Shot in the Nevada Desert of course. :pac:

Chuck Stone

Jernal wrote: »

Shot in the Nevada Desert of course. :pac:

shedweller

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2012/11/nasa-curiosity-close-to-solving-mystery-of-mars-missing-athmosphere.html

NASA's Curiosity rover has taken significant steps toward understanding how Mars may have lost much of its original atmosphere. Learning what happened to the Martian atmosphere will help scientists assess whether the planet ever was habitable. The present atmosphere of Mars is 100 times thinner than Earth's. A set of instruments aboard the rover has ingested and analyzed samples of the atmosphere collected near the "Rocknest" site in Gale Crater where the rover is stopped for research.
Findings from the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments suggest that loss of a fraction of the atmosphere, resulting from a physical process favoring retention of heavier isotopes of certain elements, has been a significant factor in the evolution of the planet. Isotopes are variants of the same element with different atomic weights. Initial SAM results show an increase of five percent in heavier isotopes of carbon in the atmospheric carbon dioxide compared to estimates of the isotopic ratios present when Mars formed. These enriched ratios of heavier isotopes to lighter ones suggest the top of the atmosphere may have been lost to interplanetary space. Losses at the top of the atmosphere would deplete lighter isotopes. Isotopes of argon also show enrichment of the heavy isotope, matching previous estimates of atmosphere composition derived from studies of Martian meteorites on Earth.

Mountainsandh

I'm not able to read all updates and news briefings at the moment and find the methane story hard to follow, has there been a significant discovery or not ? The few extracts I've read seemed to be the accounts from previous methane detection, not from Curiosity ?

shedweller

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/11/no-positive-detection-of-methane-on-mars-nasa-announces/264473/

In a much anticipated news teleconference broadcast online today, NASA scientists announced that the Curiosity Rover has not found any evidence of methane on Mars. Roughly 95 percent of methane in Earth's atmosphere comes from organisms, so if the rover had found any of this gas, it would have been incredible evidence of yet-to-detected microbial life on the planet. Scientists said they were not particularly surprised with the result.
The rover can detect methane in quantities greater than just a few parts per billion. Though it is certainly possible that trace methane exists at a level lower than that, such tiny amounts would not indicate the presence of life as more abundant quantities would. The amount, NASA said, "could be zero."

http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-rover-doesnt-detect-methane-mars-193144380.html

Scientists say initial sampling of Mars' atmosphere by the NASA rover Curiosity did not definitively detect methane, a gas that can be a clue to determining if the red planet ever was hospitable to microbial life.Test results released Friday in a teleconference from Jet Propulsion Laboratory are not conclusive but are in line with past studies that found no regular methane on Mars.
The results do stand in contrast to other research such as observations by Earth-based telescopes that indicated Mars belched thousands of tons of methane in 2003.
On Earth, methane gas is overwhelmingly a byproduct of life, but it can also be produced by non-biological processes.
Mission scientists will continue to search for methane.
Curiosity has been operating on Mars since its August landing in a crater.

So it has been looked for in the past. By what, remains unknown to me at the moment!

shedweller

So after a bit of digging i found a few bits and bobs. It was 2004 and i was a little busy then, hence my lack of knowledge on the subject:
http://www.space.com/16902-mars-rover-curiosity-life-building-blocks.html

What’s the likelihood of finding organics? John Grunsfeld, head of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said he likes Curiosity’s chances. "If I had to predict the future, I would say it’s likely. But we’ll find out soon enough."
His conclusion is grounded in what we have learned about Mars in recent years. Specifically, a paper in May by the Carnegie Institute’s Andrew Steele and colleagues found clear evidence of organic material in meteorites found on Earth but originating from Mars.
It’s conceivable that the organics somehow entered the meteorites as they flew through space on their way to Earth, but Steele concluded the organics were definitely not the result of terrestrial contamination and so possibly were from Mars.
Add to this discovery the deepening understanding of how widespread extraterrestrial organics of all kinds are in space, and the case for complex carbon compounds on Mars gets stronger.
The Viking legacy
Yet the one time that NASA specifically tested for organics on Mars was in the 1970s with the two Viking landers, and the results were interpreted then as negative. These disappointing and unexpected results were a major reason why efforts to search for life on Mars were discontinued and not resumed until the Curiosity mission.

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/mars143.php

In 2004, the Mars Express mission detected signs of methane in the Martian atmosphere, and some scientists believe that the methane could indicate the presence of extremophiles called methanogens - a form of microbial life that gives off methane as part of its metabolic processes.

And i was born in the 70's so i was a little too busy to read up on the Viking lander. What with escaping from my cot and all!:pac:

Some more from ESA:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMZ0B57ESD_0.html