The Curiosity rover team maps the route of Mount Sharp



[ad_1]

<! –

Since arriving on the red planet in August 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has been collecting data on the geology and chemistry of the Martian surface.

->

This annotated map shows a proposed route for the NASA Curiosity rover, which climbs Mount Sharp on Mars. The map shows different areas that scientists working with the rover would like to explore in the years to come. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESA / Univ. of Arizona Science Astrogeology / JHUAPL / MSSS / USGS

This annotated map shows a proposed route for the NASA Curiosity rover, which climbs lower on Mount Sharp on Mars. The map shows different areas that scientists working with the rover would like to explore in the years to come. Image Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ESA / Univ. of Arizona Science Astrogeology / JHUAPL / MSSS / USGS

Since landing on the red planet in August 2012, NASA's Curiosity rover has been collecting data on the geology and chemistry of the Martian surface, uncovering mineral traces of past habitable environments on Mars.

Curiosity He climbs Mount Sharp – a feature that interests the mission's scientific team because of its geographically distinct regions – since 2014. Each region represents a different period of history of the mountain, which s 39; pupil about 5 km above. the soil of Gale Crater.

The rover spent almost a year exploring Vera Rubin Ridge and is currently in an area called "Clay Unit" where he recently started analyzing rock samples.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently released an animated video tour of Mount Sharp that shows Curiosity's proposed route as it continues up the mountain.

The scientific team is particularly interested in the "sulphated unit", where sulphate minerals may indicate that the region dries up or becomes more acidic in antiquity; and Gedis Vallis, a feature where a river may have traced a path through the sulphate unit.

Video provided by NASA / JPL-Caltech

Tagged: Mars Navy NASA Curiosity Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jim Sharkey

Jim Sharkey is a lab assistant, writer, and general science enthusiast who grew up in Enid, Oklahoma, hometown of Skylab and shuttle astronaut Owen K. Garriott. As a young fan of Star Trek, he participated in the letter writing campaign that led to the name of the prototype of the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

His university studies range from psychology and archeology to biology, but he has never lost his passion for exploring space. Jim started blogging on science, science fiction and futurism in 2004.

Jim resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended NASA Socials for the Mars Curiosity Mars Curiosity Rover Landing and the launch of NASA's LADEE Lunar Orbiter.

[ad_2]

Source link