Posted on 01/05/2013 7:36:12 PM PST by BenLurkin
All of Curiosity's instruments have been commissioned. The drill is the only tool that has yet to be deployed.
Its hammer action will enable the device to retrieve powdered samples from up to 5cm inside the rock, which can then passed to the rover's onboard laboratories for analysis.
As Curiosity trundled through Yellowknife Bay in December, it used its survey instruments to try to identify the most promising candidate rock. This equipment comprises the mast-mounted colour cameras and laser spectrometer, and the arm-held "hand lens" camera and X-ray spectrometer.
Continue reading the main story Take a trip to Mars
Explore the Red Planet with Nasa's robot
Yellowknife was chosen as a destination because it represents a different type of rock terrain to the one on which Curiosity landed in August and on which it has done most of its driving. Satellite observations indicate this landscape has a high thermal inertia - that is to say, at night it loses heat more slowly than the terrains that abut it in the local area.
Pictures returned to Earth from inside Yellowknife Bay appear to show copious sedimentary deposits
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Oh! Mr. Civilizations! You know everything!
[buffs nails on shirt]
[smiles at you]
Oh goodie.
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