[X] My Assistant

[Stephen]

I notice they haven't included among MSL's experiment package any that might be used to date rocks, presumably because such a thing would be too heavy and/or consume too much power.

What I was wondering was how much would such an experiment weigh? Is it ever likely such a tool will ever be sent to Mars on a robot? For that matter, is any ever likely to be sent with a manned mission? Or is that the sort of experiment that will probably still only be possible in a lab on Earth even a decade or two from now?

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Stephen

[djellison]

Well - MSL's initial payload is already determined - unlikely to shift.

but - let's answer this question ourselves.

1) How do you date a rock

2) What data does that require

3) What instrumentation gets that data

4) How flyable is that instrumentation

I'm a space nut, not a geologist, but thats the way to go thru it.

If anyone answers '1' with "Buy it flowers and take it to the cinema" I'll throw a chunk of granite at them.

Doug