The Mars Rover Curiosity Has Finally Arrived At Her Destination

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The Mars Rover Curiosity Has Finally Arrived At Her Destination
Business Insider
By Ajai Raj  17 hours ago



Curiosity has got a new mountain to climb, and will soon have mountains of data to share. The Mars rover has just arrived at the base of Mount Sharp, at the center of Gale Crater, NASA announced today.

Scientists are hopeful that the silicon-rich rock of Mount Sharp, which is roughly the size of Mount Rainier in Washington, will provide a window into tens of millions of years of Martian history — and reveal whether the Red Planet once hosted life.

"We have finally arrived at the far frontier that we have sought for so long," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger.

This is what that frontier looks like. This image from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover shows the "Amargosa Valley," on the slopes leading up to Mount Sharp.



NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS


The image has been white-balanced to show how the scene would appear under Earth's lighting conditions.

And this is where Curiosity is headed into the mountain range. the rover had to switch routes because her wheels weren't holding up as well as scientists hoped — leading her to smoother terrain.

The route of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover up the slopes of Mount Sharp on Mars is shown in yellow in this false-color image.



NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona


The image is composed of color strips taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The rover will explore the Pahrump Hills and onto what's called the Murray Formation, which forms the base of Mount Sharp.

During the trip and at the Murray Foundation, scientists hope to find more rocks like the one below, which suggests that the Red Planet wasn't always so red. This rock, named Bonanza King, is located across the boundary that defines the base of Mount Sharp.



NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS


The "Bonanza King" rock was found to contain an abundance of silicon, indicating an aqueous environment in the past that might have played host to Martian microbes. You can see below how "Bonanza King" stacks up against other rocks that Curiosity has investigated.

The chart shows the silicon and aluminum content of the rocks that Curiosity has analyzed so far:



NASA/JPL-Caltech/ University of Guelph


"At the Murray Formation, we potentially have millions to tens of millions of years of Martian history just waiting for us to explore," said Curiosity Rover Mission Scientist Kathryn Stack.

"If the past two years of Curiosity's exploration are any indication, we're going to see things, exciting things that we've never seen before and couldn't possibly have anticipated," she added.


http://news.yahoo.com/mars-rover-curiosity-finally-arrived-203826656.html

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NASA's Mars Curiosity rover reaches 'far frontier'
AFP
18 hours ago



A color image released by NASA on August 28, 2012 and taken on August 23 shows Mount Sharp in the background, taken by the 34-millimeter mast camera on NASA's Curiosity Rover (AFP Photo/)



Washington (AFP) - NASA's $2.5 billion Curiosity rover has reached the base of the Martian mountain it aims to explore and should start drilling rocks there soon, US space agency scientists said Thursday.

They also defended the robotic vehicle's work so far, after a review panel in July criticized the mission and said it was lacking focus.

The biggest Mars rover ever made landed on the Red Planet in August 2012 after a dramatic touchdown, with the goal of exploring the terrain for traces that life may once have existed.

"We have finally arrived at the far frontier that we have sought for so long," said John Grotzinger, Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology.

The vehicle is now at the base of Mount Sharp and will start climbing in the coming days, with the aim of drilling into a gray-green colored rock in the next couple of weeks, he said.

"The scientific sequel is upon us," said Jim Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division.

The rover will take a slightly more direct route from the base than initially planned, after its wheels were damaged last year by sharp rocks on the Martian surface that poked holes in four of the vehicle's six wheels.

"This damage accelerated the rate of wear and tear beyond that for which the rover team had planned. In response, the team altered the rover's route to a milder terrain," NASA said in a statement.

In July, an independent review panel said that the mission's aim of collecting eight samples from Mars' surface for a total of 13 analyses was "a poor science return for such a large investment in a flagship mission."

The reviewers also questioned whether the rover's science goals were being met, and precisely what they were, expressing concern that NASA's lead project scientist did not attend the presentation in person and was unavailable for questions.

"This left the panel with the impression that the team felt they were too big to fail," said the report by the NASA Planetary Senior Review panel.

Green said there had been a misunderstanding about scheduling and that NASA did not intend to have their lead scientist miss the panel's questions.

Green said the space agency was taking into account the findings of the panel.

"We don't filter their comments, we don't edit them out, we don't block their opinions," said Green.

"We solicit it, we got them, and we are acting on them."


http://news.yahoo.com/nasas-mars-curiosity-rover-reaches-far-frontier-202910766.html

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity finally at Mount Sharp
Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN  19 hours ago



This Aug. 15, 2014, composite image released by NASA and made by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows a view looking back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014. NASA announced Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, that the rover has reached the base of Mount Sharp, its long-term science destination since landing two years ago. Officials say drilling could begin as early as next week at an outcrop of rocks called Pahrump Hills. (AP Photo/NASA, JPL-Caltech, Cornell University, Arizona State University)



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's Curiosity rover is about to conduct some serious scientific drilling at Mars.

The space agency announced Thursday that the rover has reached the base of Mount Sharp, its destination since landing two years ago. Officials say drilling could begin as early as next week at an outcrop of rocks called Pahrump Hills.

Mount Sharp, located in ancient Gale Crater, rises nearly 3½ miles. Curiosity began the 5-mile trek over a year ago.

A scientific review panel has criticized the Curiosity team for an extended mission that involves too much driving and too little sampling. On Thursday, project scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology promised "we are going to do a lot more drilling" now that the six-wheel Curiosity is at Mount Sharp.



This file photo released on June 23, 2014 by NASA, shows NASA's Curiosity Mars rover self-portrait. NASA announced Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, that the rover has reached the base of Mount Sharp, its long-term science destination since landing two years ago. Officials say drilling could begin as early as next week at an outcrop of rocks called Pahrump Hills. (AP Photo/NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, File)


NASA says the nuclear-powered Curiosity remains healthy, aside from worn wheels. Curiosity is a roving science laboratory with high-tech instruments to drill into rocks, forecast the weather and track radiation.

At $2.5 billion, it's the most expensive mission to the red planet.

___

Online:

NASA: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/


http://news.yahoo.com/nasas-mars-rover-curiosity-finally-mount-sharp-182908872.html

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NASA Mars rover Curiosity reaches base of target mountain
Reuters
20 hours ago



This self-portrait of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover is shown in this NASA handout composite image released May 30, 2013. Curiosity is on the road toward Mount Sharp, the primary target of a planned two-year mission to search for habitats that could have supported life, NASA officials said June 5, 2013. (REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters)



CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) - NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has arrived at the base of a mountain of layered rock that scientists suspect holds clues about whether the planet most like Earth in the solar system had the ingredients to support and preserve signs of microbial life.

The 1-ton rover touched down inside an ancient impact basin in August 2012. It quickly discovered a region inside the Gale Crater landing site that was chemically and geologically suited for the same kind of rock-eating microbes commonly found on Earth.

With the primary goal of the mission met, scientists set about the more daunting task of finding environmental niches that not only could have hosted life, but also preserved signs of its existence - a tricky prospect since the same processes that make rock tend to destroy organic carbon.

Scientists figured their best chance for success lay inside rocks on Mount Sharp, a 3-mile (5-km) high mountain rising from the center of Gale Crater.

After 18 months of driving, scientists on Thursday announced that Curiosity had arrived at the base of Mount Sharp ahead of schedule, thanks to a somewhat serendipitous decision to take an alternative path that would be gentler on the rover’s damaged wheels.

Within two weeks, Curiosity will reach an outcrop of rock called Pahrump Hills, where the first drill samples of Mount Sharp real estate will be made, California Institute of Technology geologist John Grotzinger told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.



NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has spent exactly one Martian year — 687 Earth days — on the Red Planet. To celebrate the occasion, the rover took a very lonely selfie, with the barren Martian landscape in the background. The "selfie" is actually a composite of dozens of images taken in April and May 2014 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a camera located at the end of rover's robotic arm. According to NASA, the rover has accomplished the mission's main goal: determining whether Mars once offered conditions that could sustain life. Its findings include an ancient riverbed, found in August 2012, as well as samples proving that the Martian Gale Crater was once a lakebed that contained water as well as other essential elemental ingredients for life. The rover's final destination is Mount Sharp, where it will search for further clues to whether life ever existed in the area.


Scientists previously expected to cross the boundary between the cratered plains of Gale Crater and the relatively smooth rocks of Mount Sharp in a region called Murray Buttes.

“Curiously, because of the wheel damage it drove us on a pathway further south to be safer to the wheels and once we got to the location ... we recognized that in fact this was an even better place to go across the boundary than it would be to keep traveling toward Murray Buttes,” Grotzinger said.

The decision to stop driving and start drilling should please a NASA oversight panel that earlier this month criticized the Curiosity team for short-changing the mission’s science goals.

“When the senior review proposal was written in February and March the base of Mount Sharp looked kilometers away. In reality, we really cut out some of the drive time ... We’re going to be starting to do much more science along the way,” said Jim Green, director of NASA’s planetary science division.

(Editing by David Adams and Bill Trott)


http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-reaches-target-mountain-205145941.html

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Curiosity rover to take up mountain climbing on Mars
After two years of exploration and driving, NASA's Curiosity rover has finally reached the base of Mount Sharp, a major goal of the mission.
CNET
by  Amanda Kooser   September 12, 2014 9:53 AM PDT



Curiosity took this selfie to celebrate its first year on Mars.  NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS



Imagine standing in a vast crater on Mars and looking up at a mountain the size of Mount Rainier. That's how big Mount Sharp is. NASA's Curiosity rover arrived at the base of the mountain and is set to delve deeply into the geologic makeup of the Red Planet. NASA describes the site as Curiosity's "long-term prime destination."

Mount Sharp is important because it gives scientists a chance to explore Mars in layers. It will be like reading through a book about Mars, with each layer representing a different chapter of the planet's environmental history. Curiosity is kicking things off with a look at an outcrop named Pahrump Hills, where the base of Mount Sharp and the surrounding Gale Crater meld together. It will then start working its way up the mountain.

Curiosity has had quite a journey to reach its current location. It's traveled about 5.5 miles along the way and is dealing with the unexpected issue of damage to four of its six wheels. Sharp rocks stuck into the ground created holes in the wheels and required some re-routing to get the rover out of the danger zone.

"We have been driving hard for many months to reach the entry point to Mount Sharp. Now that we've made it, we'll be adjusting the operations style from a priority on driving to a priority on conducting the investigations needed at each layer of the mountain," says Jennifer Trosper, Curiosity deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

While some climbers will tell you they conquer mountains "because they are there," Curiosity is looking to conquer Mount Sharp "because science!"

Curiosity Rover Report: We made it! Curiosity reaches Mount Sharp (Sept 11, 2014)

http://www.cnet.com/news/curiosity-rover-to-take-up-mountain-climbing-on-mars/#ftag=YHF65cbda0