[meteorite-list] Curiosity Finishes Close Inspection of Rock Target

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:16:05 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201209242316.q8ONG59t006991_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-300

Curiosity Finishes Close Inspection of Rock Target
Jet Propulsion Labotaory
September 24, 2012

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's rover Curiosity touched a Martian rock with
its robotic arm for the first time on Sept. 22, assessing what chemical
elements are in the rock called "Jake Matijevic."

After a short drive the preceding day to get within arm's reach of the
football-size rock, Curiosity put its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer
(APXS) instrument in contact with the rock during the rover's 46th
Martian day, or sol. The APXS is on a turret at the end of the rover's
7-foot (2.1-meter) arm. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), on the same
turret, was used for close-up inspection of the rock. Both instruments
were also used on Jake Matijevic on Sol 47 (Sept. 23).

The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, which shoots laser pulses
at a target from the top of Curiosity's mast, also assessed what
chemical elements are in the rock Jake Matijevic. Using both APXS and
ChemCam on this rock provides a cross calibration of the two instruments.

With a final ChemCam laser testing of the rock on Sol 48 (Sept. 24),
Curiosity finished its work on Jake Matijevic. The rover departed the
same sol, with a drive of about 138 feet (42 meters), its longest yet.
Sol 48, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 3:09 p.m.
Sept. 24, PDT.

Curiosity landed on Mars seven weeks ago to begin a two-year mission
using 10 instruments to assess whether a carefully chosen study area
inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable
for microbial life.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena,
manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, including Curiosity, for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built
the rover. The Space Division of MDA Information Systems Inc. built the
robotic arm in Pasadena.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl
and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ . You can follow the mission on
Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

Guy Webster / D.C. Agle 818-354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Guy.Webster at jpl.nasa.gov / Agle at jpl.nasa.gov

2012-300
Received on Mon 24 Sep 2012 07:16:05 PM PDT