Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud

    Mars Rover Curiosity’s Rock-Blasting Laser Reaches Milestone

    Written by

    Todd R. Weiss
    Published December 8, 2013
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      Since landing on Mars Aug. 6, 2012, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been exploring the planet’s surface and conducting science experiments on soil and rocks. One of the mission’s key milestones was reached this week when the rover’s specialized on-board laser was fired for the 100,000th time as it continues to explore the planet’s history.

      The laser, called ChemCam, is shot each time at a rock, creating a little ball of plasma or debris, Roger Wiens, the principal investigator of the ChemCam team, told eWEEK. “It abrades some material off of the rock’s surface, like a little ball of flame,” said Wiens, who is a planetary scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the laser was developed.

      After each shot, special instruments on the rover capture the spectral signatures of the laser firing, which are used to identify the elements that make up the soil on Mars, he said. Photographs are also taken to document the laser firing and to build a history of the experiments.

      The ChemCam laser marks the first time that scientists on Earth have been able to do this kind of research on Mars, said Wiens. A previous Phoenix lander sent to Mars had a laser, but it was aimed into the planet’s atmosphere and couldn’t collect information about the rocks on Mars.

      Other Mars lander missions used a robotic arm to scoop up soil for analysis, but that limited data collection to materials that could be grabbed by the arm, said Wiens. “So it took more effort than just point and shoot,” like researchers are able to do with the laser. “This mission provides much more data collection.”

      Another important advantage to using the laser is that it is helping scientists get below the dusty surface of Mars to see what’s really there in the rocks, he said. “Remember, that Mars is a dusty place and these rocks tend to be covered by dust. So the passive tests [using previous arm-mounted scoops] show what’s on the surface, while the laser shots get below the surface” and reveal more information about the composition of the materials.

      “It gives us a window that we wouldn’t have otherwise by using this laser,” said Wiens. “I think it’s fair to say that we are piecing the data together like pieces in a puzzle.”

      So far, the Curiosity, which celebrated its one-year anniversary on Mars in August, has delivered some incredible finds to scientists back on Earth, including the discovery of solid evidence that ancient Mars could have supported life, according to NASA.

      A key discovery has been uncovered at the rover’s landing site, called Gale Crater, where a long- since-dried-up lake once stood, said Wiens. “It’s the first time that we have seen lake sediments on Mars. It’s still really mysterious. The water was here a very long time ago, but there are some pieces that are telling us a lot.”

      For example, scientists have found real clay minerals in the materials in the area that were probably sediments in the bottom of a lake, like those found on Earth, he said. “The surprising thing is this appears to be a freshwater lake. Previous discoveries of water on Mars appeared to be very briny. So here’s what we think was a fairly big lake that had fresh water.”

      Mars Rover Curiosity’s Rock-Blasting Laser Reaches Milestone

      The ChemCam laser is operated half of the time by scientists at Los Alamos and half the time by scientists at the French national space agency, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and at the French research agency, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

      What’s been most surprising so far, said Wiens, is that on the laser’s very first firing on Aug. 19, 2012, it found evidence of hydration, or water, in the dust on Mars. “It’s still a mystery to us how this is present.” The water is in small quantities, however, making up only 1.5 to 3 percent of the content of the soil samples collected.

      That discovery, though, creates some interesting implications for future space travelers to Mars, he said. “If you would have astronauts there, they could potentially collect large amounts of soil, heat it up and get water,” said Wiens.

      Asked if the scheduled 30-month mission is so far going like he expected, Wiens said it’s even more special than he dreamed. “It’s one thing to be planning for it, and then it’s another thing to have all the data and to have all the secrets that Mars has been revealing from all these spectral images that we have been collecting.”

      NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which designed and built the project’s Curiosity rover, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. Since landing, Curiosity has so far sent more than 190 gigabits of data back to Earth, and has sent back more than 36,700 full images and 35,000 thumbnail images, according to NASA.

      In July, the Curiosity rover began a long-awaited, 5-mile journey across the terrain of the red planet to begin exploring a rocky area known as Mount Sharp 11 months after the rover arrived on the planet’s surface following a 354-million-mile, eight-month voyage from Earth.

      The Mount Sharp destination, which is in the middle of Gale Crater, is important to scientists working on the mission because it exposes many layers where scientists anticipate finding evidence about how the ancient Martian environment changed and evolved, according to the JPL. The rover is expected to take up to a year to reach Mount Sharp, due to the care that must be used in crossing the unknown terrain.

      At the end of June, it conducted a close-up investigation of a target sedimentary outcrop of rock called Shaler, according to NASA, then began heading away from Shaler on July 4. The vehicle travels very slowly, initially traveling 59 feet away from Shaler that day, then adding another 131-foot excursion away from the site on July 7.

      In June, NASA released a spectacular 1.3 billion-pixel image of the surface of Mars, which was stitched together from almost 900 images taken by special cameras mounted on the Curiosity rover. The image can be explored using panning and scanning tools on NASA’s Website. The images used to create the massive photograph include some 850 frames taken using the telephoto camera of Curiosity’s Mast Camera instrument, supplemented with 21 frames from the Mastcam’s wider-angle camera and 25 black-and-white frames from the on-board Navigation Camera, according to NASA.

      Todd R. Weiss
      Todd R. Weiss
      Todd R. Weiss is a seasoned technology journalist with over 15 years of experience covering enterprise IT. Since 2014, he has been a senior writer at eWEEK.com, specializing in mobile technology, smartphones, tablets, laptops, cloud computing, and enterprise software. Previously, he was a staff writer for Computerworld.com from 2000 to 2008, reporting on a wide range of IT topics. Throughout his career, Weiss has written extensively about innovations in mobile tech, cloud platforms, security, and enterprise software, providing insightful analysis to help IT professionals and businesses navigate the evolving technology landscape. His work has appeared in numerous leading publications, offering expert commentary and in-depth analysis on emerging trends and best practices in IT.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×