Mars Rover Curiosity
Completes First Full Drill
By Marc Kaufman, for
National Geographic News
For the first time in
history, humans have drilled a hole into rock on Mars and are collecting the
powdered results for analysis, NASA announced Saturday.
After weeks of
intensive planning, the Mars rover Curiosity undertook its first full drill on
Friday, with NASA receiving images on Saturday showing that the procedure was a
success.
Curiosity drilled a
hole that is a modest 2.5 inches (6.35 centimeters) deep and .6 inches (1.52
centimeters) wide but that holds the promise of potentially great discoveries.
"The most
advanced planetary robot ever designed now is a fully operating analytical
laboratory on Mars," John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator for the
agency's Science Mission Directorate, said in a statement on Saturday.
"This is the
biggest milestone accomplishment for the Curiosity team since the sky-crane
landing last August."
The site of the
much-anticipated penetration is a flat section of Mars rock that shows signs of
having been underwater in its past.
Called Yellowknife
Bay, it's the kind of environment where organic materials—the building block of
life—might have been deposited and preserved long ago, at a time when Mars was
far wetter and warmer than it is today.
The contents of the
drilling are now being transferred into the rover's internal collection system,
where the samples will be sieved down to size and scoured to minimize the
presence of contamination from Earth.
Then the sample will be distributed to the
two instruments most capable of determining what the rocks contain.
The first is the
Sample Analysis on Mars (SAM), which has two ovens that can heat the powdered
rock to almost 2000°F (1093°C) and release the rock's elements and compounds in
a gaseous form.
The gases will then be
analyzed by instruments that can identify precisely what they are, and when
they might have been deposited. Scientists are looking for carbon-based
organics believed to be essential for any potentially past life on Mars.
Powder will also go to
the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument for a related analysis that
looks especially at the presence of minerals—especially those that can only be
formed in the presence of water.
Louise Jandura, chief
engineer for Curiosity's sample system at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
said that designing and testing a drill that can grab hold of Martian rock and
commence first a percussive shallow drilling and then dig a deeper hole was
difficult.
The drill, which is at
the end of a 7-foot arm, is capable of about 100 discrete maneuvers.
"To get to the
point of making this hole in a rock on Mars, we made eight drills and bored
more than 1,200 holes in 20 types of rock on Earth," Jandura said in a
statement.
Results from the SAM
and CheMin analyses are not expected for several days to weeks.
Who:
NASA
How: For
the first time in history, humans have drilled a hole into rock on Mars and are
collecting the powdered results for analysis
Where:
On Mars
When:
Saturday
Key
words:
Curiosity
好奇
Propulsion
推進
Contamination 汙染
Sieve 篩選
Compound 增加、使惡化、使混合
The scientists in NASA spent a lot of time and money studying Mars. They make a great contribution to human beings designing and testing a drill to grab hold of Martian rock. They create infinite miracles for our future. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
回覆刪除This is a interesting news for me.Nowsday,people always damage Earth.So,NASA spent many time to find a similar place to live.And Mars'stone is a significant breakthrough.I believe that Mars'stone is a good thing.
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