Curiosity’s First Target Practice on Mars
August 20, 2012
Curiosity, NASA’s new Mars rover, successfully tested its laser yesterday, firing at a fist-sized rock, space agency scientists have reported. The laser is part of the rover’s Chemistry and Camera instrument–known as ChemCam–which can analyze Martian rock and soil to determine its chemical composition. In the 10-second test, the laser zapped the rock 30 times. Each pulse delivered more than 1 million watts of power for about 5 one-billionths of a second.
The blasts turned the rock to glowing plasma, a gaseous form of matter composed of electrically charged particles. A telescope on the ChemCam then recorded the light given off with each pulse for analysis by three spectrometers. These instruments spread out light and other types of electromagnetic waves into a spectrum and display it for study. Curiosity’s spectrometers can record 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light, according to NASA. Scientists expect to use the rover’s laser thousands of times as it searches for signs that Mars is, or ever has been, capable of supporting microbial life.
Curiosity is the largest and most advanced robotic laboratory ever sent to another planet. The rover’s prime target is Mount Sharp (also known as Aeolis Mons), a mysterious 3-mile- (5-kilometer-) high mountain in Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed. Mount Sharp consists of layers of rock that may have been laid down over billions of years. Although the mountain looks similar to layered mountains on Earth, scientists do not know how it formed. As the rover scales the mountain, it will analyze the layers in an attempt to discover how Mars, which was once warmer and wetter, became so cold and dry. It will also search for organic (carbon-bearing) molecules necessary for life as we know it.
Additional World Book articles:
- Mars Pathfinder
- Phoenix [spacecraft]
- Space exploration (Probes to Mars)
- The Search for Water on Mars (a Special Report)