After 4,000 days on Mars, NASAs Curiosity rover continues to check out the ancient climate of the Red Planet, recently drilling its 39th sample from the sulfate-rich “Sequoia” region, as it conquers barriers like a jammed camera filter wheel.
The Curiosity mission team is making sure the robotic scientist, now in its fourth prolonged objective, is staying strong, in spite of the wear and tear from its 11-year journey.
Four thousand Martian days after setting its wheels in Gale Crater on August 5, 2012, NASAs Curiosity rover stays hectic performing exciting science. The rover just recently drilled its 39th sample and then dropped the pulverized rock into its stubborn belly for comprehensive analysis.
Uncovering Mars Past
To study whether ancient Mars had the conditions to support microbial life, the rover has actually been slowly rising the base of 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, whose layers formed in different durations of Martian history and offer a record of how the planets climate altered over time.
Scientists hope the sample will reveal more about how the environment and habitability of Mars evolved as this region ended up being enriched in sulfates– minerals that likely formed in salted water that was evaporating as Mars initially started drying up billions of years back. Interest Views Sequoia Using Its Mastcam: NASAs Curiosity Mars rover used the drill on the end of its robotic arm to gather a sample from a rock nicknamed “Sequoia” on October 17, 2023, the 3,980 th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Regardless of having driven almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) through a punishingly cold environment bathed in dust and radiation since 2012, Curiosity remains strong. Software updates have fixed bugs and added brand-new abilities to Curiosity, too, making long drives easier for the rover and lowering wheel wear that comes from steering (an earlier addition of a traction-control algorithm also helps decrease wheel wear from driving over sharp rocks).
Interest was developed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.
Interests Navcams View the Area Around Sequoia: NASAs Curiosity Mars rover recorded this 360-degree panorama using its black-and-white navigation cams, or Navcams, at an area where it gathered a sample from a rock nicknamed “Sequoia.” Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Geological Clues
The current sample was gathered from a target nicknamed “Sequoia” (all of the objectives present science targets are called after locations in Californias Sierra Nevada). Researchers hope the sample will expose more about how the climate and habitability of Mars evolved as this region ended up being enriched in sulfates– minerals that likely formed in salty water that was vaporizing as Mars initially started drying up billions of years back. Eventually, Mars liquid water disappeared for good.
” The types of sulfate and carbonate minerals that Curiositys instruments have actually recognized in the in 2015 help us comprehend what Mars was like so long ago. Weve been anticipating these results for years, and now Sequoia will inform us a lot more,” stated Ashwin Vasavada, Curiositys job researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the objective.
Interest Views Sequoia Using Its Mastcam: NASAs Curiosity Mars rover utilized the drill on completion of its robotic arm to collect a sample from a rock nicknamed “Sequoia” on October 17, 2023, the 3,980 th Martian day, or sol, of the objective. The rovers Mastcam recorded this image. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Drying Climate
Figuring out the clues to Mars ancient environment requires detective work. In a current paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, staff member utilized data from Curiositys Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument to find a magnesium sulfate mineral called starkeyite, which is connected with especially dry environments like Mars modern-day environment.
The group thinks that after sulfate minerals first formed in salty water that was evaporating billions of years earlier, these minerals transformed into starkeyite as the environment continued drying to its present state. Findings like this fine-tune scientists understanding of how the Mars these days came to be.
Curiosity at Sequoia in 3D: This anaglyph variation of Curiositys panorama taken at “Sequoia” can be viewed in 3D utilizing red-blue glasses. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Technical Resilience
Regardless of having actually driven almost 20 miles (32 kilometers) through a punishingly cold environment bathed in dust and radiation given that 2012, Curiosity stays strong. Engineers are currently working to deal with an issue with one of the rovers main “eyes”– the 34 mm focal length left video camera of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, instrument. In addition to providing color images of the rovers surroundings, each of Mastcams 2 cams helps scientists figure out from afar the composition of rocks by the wavelengths of light, or spectra, they reflect in various colors.
To do that, Mastcam depends on filters arranged on a wheel that rotates under each cameras lens. Given that September 19, the left cams filter wheel has been stuck in between filter positions, the effects of which can be seen on the objectives raw, or unprocessed, images. The objective continues to slowly push the filter wheel back towards its basic setting.
If unable to nudge it back all the way, the mission would rely on the greater resolution 100 mm focal length right Mastcam as the main color-imaging system. As a result, how the team scouts for science targets and rover routes would be affected: The best camera requires to take nine times more images than the left to cover the very same area. The groups likewise would have a broken down capability to observe the in-depth color spectra of rocks from afar.
Mission Maintenance and Preparations
Along with efforts to push the filter back, mission engineers continue to closely monitor the performance of the rovers nuclear power source and anticipate it will provide enough energy to operate for much more years. They have actually also found methods to get rid of difficulties from wear on the rovers drill system and robotic-arm joints. Software updates have actually fixed bugs and included brand-new abilities to Curiosity, too, making long drives easier for the rover and minimizing wheel wear that originates from steering (an earlier addition of a traction-control algorithm also helps minimize wheel wear from driving over sharp rocks).
Meanwhile, the group is preparing for a break of a number of weeks in November. Mars will disappear behind the Sun, a phenomenon called solar conjunction. Plasma from the Sun can interact with radio waves, potentially interfering with commands throughout this time. Engineers are leaving Curiosity with an order of business from November 6 to 28, after which duration communications can securely resume.
Referral: “Mineralogical Investigation of Mg-Sulfate at the Canaima Drill Site, Gale Crater, Mars” by S. J. Chipera, D. T. Vaniman, E. B. Rampe, T. F. Bristow, G. Martínez, V. M. Tu, T. S. Peretyazhko, A. S. Yen, R. Gellert, J. A. Berger, W. Rapin, R. V. Morris, D. W. Ming, L. M. Thompson, S. Simpson, C. N. Achilles, B. Tutolo, R. T. Downs, A. A. Fraeman, E. Fischer, D. F. Blake, A. H. Treiman, S. M. Morrison, M. T. Thorpe, S. Gupta, W. E. Dietrich, G. Downs, N. Castle, P. I. Craig, D. J. Des Marais, R. M. Hazen, A. R. Vasavada, E. Hausrath, P. Sarrazin and J. P. Grotzinger, 30 October 2023, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.DOI: 10.1029/ 2023JE008041.
Mars Curiosity Rover Mission Overview.
Curiosity was developed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the objective on behalf of NASAs Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego developed and runs Mastcam.
