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NASA's Curiosity satellite has spent six and a half years on the Red Planet and researchers have discovered a new use of on-board tools, suggesting that their sensors can be used to measure gravitational force, According to
The key was to modify the vehicle's driving sensors to convert them into gravimeters, by which the density of the rock at the base of Mount Sharp in the crater of Gale could be measured for the first time. Thus, it became possible to verify that the density of these rocks was lower than previously thought.
"The Curiosity has a new scientific tool six and a half years after the start of its mission, the basement of Mars was not designed as the probe," said geophysicist Kevin Lewis of the Johns Hopkins University and the Department of Planetary Sciences.
The change of devices Curiosity works the same way as the accelerometer and gyroscope smartphones that, when the cell moves, track the location and direction of the device owner. In the case of the probe, its tools are much more precise, so knowing its orientation, it is possible for engineers to direct them more accurately, as well as the multidirectional antenna high gain.
In addition, probe accelerometers can be used as an Apollo 17 gravimeter, detecting the severity of the location where the device stops. Using the information from the Curiosity mission, it was possible to measure the gravitational force of Mars at 700 points taken between October 2012 and June 2017, and find that when Mount Sharp climbs, the mountain adds gravity, but not as far as "The lowest levels of Mount Sharp are surprisingly porous," Lewis said, adding, "We know that the lower layers of the mountain have been buried over time, which compresses them and makes them more dense. "
This discovery suggests that they were not buried with all the material we thought. "
Ashwin Vasavada, co-author of the study, concluded that" there are still many questions about the development of Mount Sharp ", but this new discovery adds an important element to the puzzle."
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