Space
NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Targets New Drilling Site After Slipping on Sand
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Aug 18, 2014 09:43 AM EDT
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is continuing its trek across the Red Planet and now, scientists have chosen a new rock for a drilling target. The new choice should hopefully tell researchers a bit more about the geological history of the planet.
The rock in question has been called "Bonanza King." It's actually not at the "Pahrumpm Hills" site that the Curiosity team originally anticipated the rover might reach by mid-August. Unfortunately, unexpected challenges while driving in sand caused the mission to reverse course last week after Curiosity entered a valley where ripples of sand filled the floor and extended onto sloping margins. Yet the new target closely resembles the Pahrump Hills outcrop.
"Geologically speaking, we can tie the Bonanza King rocks to those at Pahrump Hills" said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity deputy project scientist, in a news release. "Studying them here will give us a head start in understanding how they fit into the bigger picture of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp."
Currently, the rover's long-term science destination is Mount Sharp, a location that offers a stack of layers that hold evidence about environmental changes on ancient Mars. The mountain rises from inside Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed in August 2012. So far, all three rocks that the rover has drilled have been geologically associated with the crater floor, rather than the mountain itself.
"This rock has an appearance quite different from the sandstones we've been driving through for several months," said Vasavada. "The landscape is changing, and that's worth checking out."
While Curiosity may be drilling into this rock, though, researchers are also trying to find out the best route for the rover to take in order to continue its trek. Because the rover's wheels slipped more in the sandy valley than the scientists expected, they weren't willing to chance continuing through the area.
"We need to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the wheels at the Martian sand ripples, and Hidden Valley is not a good location for experimenting," said Jim Erickson, one of the researchers.
During the drilling campaign, the researchers will analyze possible routes to Mount Sharp and plan how to better understand how the rover's wheels interact with Martian sand ripples.
For more information about Curiosity, visit NASA's website.
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NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Aug 18, 2014 09:43 AM EDT
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is continuing its trek across the Red Planet and now, scientists have chosen a new rock for a drilling target. The new choice should hopefully tell researchers a bit more about the geological history of the planet.
The rock in question has been called "Bonanza King." It's actually not at the "Pahrumpm Hills" site that the Curiosity team originally anticipated the rover might reach by mid-August. Unfortunately, unexpected challenges while driving in sand caused the mission to reverse course last week after Curiosity entered a valley where ripples of sand filled the floor and extended onto sloping margins. Yet the new target closely resembles the Pahrump Hills outcrop.
"Geologically speaking, we can tie the Bonanza King rocks to those at Pahrump Hills" said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity deputy project scientist, in a news release. "Studying them here will give us a head start in understanding how they fit into the bigger picture of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp."
Currently, the rover's long-term science destination is Mount Sharp, a location that offers a stack of layers that hold evidence about environmental changes on ancient Mars. The mountain rises from inside Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed in August 2012. So far, all three rocks that the rover has drilled have been geologically associated with the crater floor, rather than the mountain itself.
"This rock has an appearance quite different from the sandstones we've been driving through for several months," said Vasavada. "The landscape is changing, and that's worth checking out."
While Curiosity may be drilling into this rock, though, researchers are also trying to find out the best route for the rover to take in order to continue its trek. Because the rover's wheels slipped more in the sandy valley than the scientists expected, they weren't willing to chance continuing through the area.
"We need to gain a better understanding of the interaction between the wheels at the Martian sand ripples, and Hidden Valley is not a good location for experimenting," said Jim Erickson, one of the researchers.
During the drilling campaign, the researchers will analyze possible routes to Mount Sharp and plan how to better understand how the rover's wheels interact with Martian sand ripples.
For more information about Curiosity, visit NASA's website.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone