MSL at Rocknest, First scoop samples - sols 57-101 |
MSL at Rocknest, First scoop samples - sols 57-101 |
Oct 3 2012, 12:30 AM
Post
#1
|
|
Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Curiosity has put more than 400 meters on the odometer and tosol (sol 56) she bumped up to a sand drift that we now know (via Twitter) is named Rocknest and will be the site of the first sample grab. In last week's press briefing, John Grotzinger warned that we will be here for "what seems like a very long time," 2-3 weeks. They will have to run several samples through the SA-SPaH (Sample Acquisition, Processing and Handling subsystem, pronounced "Saw-spa") and in particular CHIMRA (Collection and Handling for In situ Martian Rock Analysis, pronounced "chimera") in order to "clean" it of any remaining Earthly contamination with good Mars dirt before they deliver the first sample to SAM or Chemin. So this seems like a good place to start a new thread.
As usual, discuss stuff that happened through sol 56 in the previous thread. -------------------- My website - My Patreon - @elakdawalla on Twitter - Please support unmannedspaceflight.com by donating here.
|
|
|
Oct 19 2012, 07:46 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1465 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Columbus OH USA Member No.: 13 |
The putative mud features were brought up at the recent telecon by Dr. Ken Kremer of Spaceflight magazine. Dr. Grotzinger only addressed it in the most general terms:
QUOTE KREMER: My other question is about the mastcam 100 imagery that you've taken on sols 64 and 66--that's very high resolution imagery, looks beautiful. I wonder if you could describe that--it looks sort of like a mud flow went through there. Is that looking in the direction of Glenelg, is that where you'll be driving, and can you just, um, generally describe that terrain and do you see any outcrops?
GROTZINGER: I think what we mostly see down there is outcrop, that's the reason that we took it--those wedges were prioritized to be in the direction in which we're going to be traveling. ...Those images will help guide us and give the team options in terms of what I'm starting to call tours. -------------------- |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 23rd September 2024 - 03:48 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |