NASA rover Curiosity prepares to zap a Martian rock in first laser target practice
Source: Associated Press
NASA rover Curiosity prepares to zap a Martian rock in first laser target practice
By Associated Press, Published: August 17
LOS ANGELES Ready, set, fire.
The NASA Mars rover Curiosity is preparing for its first laser target practice zapping a Martian rock 10 feet away on Saturday night.
Since landing in an ancient crater Aug. 5, the car-size Curiosity has been getting a full health checkup. Scientists said Friday they have chosen a generic-looking rock near the landing site to aim the laser at and burn a small hole.
The laser is one of 10 tools Curiosity will use to study whether the environment was favorable for microbial life.
Engineers next week planned to command Curiosity to turn its wheels side-to-side and then take its first short drive that will involve rolling forward 10 feet, turning 90 degrees and then going in reverse.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nasa-rover-curiosity-prepares-to-zap-a-martian-rock-in-first-laser-target-practice/2012/08/17/fa8c2454-e8ca-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html
intaglio
(8,170 posts)a strange voice is heard worldwide
"This is the voice of the Mysterons ..."
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Shameful.
We make up stories of aliens sending robots with death rays landing on earth, and then we do this to the unspoiled Martian landscape.
Confusious
(8,317 posts)WooWooWoo
(454 posts)we're firing lasers on mars.
LASERS.
ON.
MARS.
100 years ago the preferred method of travel was a horse and buggy.
Now we're on Mars, firing lasers from a mobile science lab that will send data back to us within minutes.
How shameful indeed.
Is there a scientific purpose?
drm604
(16,230 posts)...
ChemCams telescope will observe the process, while its spectrometer which is sensitive to light from every element on the periodic table will analyze emissions from the resulting plasma, telling scientists what lies within.
"ChemCam is designed to look for lighter elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, all of which are crucial for life," said Los Alamos' Roger Wiens, ChemCam principal investigator. "The system can provide immediate, unambiguous detection of water from frost or other sources on the surface, as well as carbon a basic building block of life as well as a possible byproduct of life. This makes the ChemCam a vital component of Curiositys mission."
TomClash
(11,344 posts)Thanks for the link and excerpt.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)It's called GEOLOGY!
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)But I suppose reading any of the dozens of articles flying around about this is harder than just kneejerking.
TomClash
(11,344 posts)It's really willfully ignorant not to become acquainted with DU Rules.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)TomClash
(11,344 posts)Re-read it.
Yes, I obviously don't know anything about this. That might be why I asked the question.
SkyDaddy7
(6,045 posts)You "assumed it was for military purposes"...your comments seem to be more aimed at causing a fight than actually asking questions.
jobendorfer
(508 posts)The laser delivers a jolt of energy to a rock or a small patch of soil and vaporizes part of it.
That makes the sample glow.
A camera records the light emitted by the target sample as it is heated.
The spectral breakdown of that light tells us about the sample's chemical composition.
It might tell us if there is life NOW on Mars, or if there was life at some time in the past.
Having an answer to that question is worth having a couple of hundred laser burn spots the size of a dime on tens of thousands of square miles of Martian surface, IMHO. ( The impact is negligible compared to what meteors regularly do to the Martian surface. )
J.
TomClash
(11,344 posts)A former client of mine works in this area and I may follow up with him.
Thank you for sparking my interest with your lucid explanation.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)It's all just entertainment for the masses.
Now go crawl back under that rock and continue reading your bible.
TomClash
(11,344 posts)They deserve a better fate.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)struggle4progress
(118,032 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)I'll give up my X-ray laser when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
I'm a proud member of the National Railgun Association.
TomClash
(11,344 posts)Men who spend way too much time with mice and motherboards and the US military.
Frank Cannon
(7,570 posts)TomClash
(11,344 posts)But it was snarky and over the top.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)longship
(40,416 posts)Gotta save Mars from certain distruction.
You're welcome, Mars. No charge for friends.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)It falls from the sky, sits dormant for a little while, pops up a periscope, looks around, and then starts blasting.
RZM
(8,556 posts)You have my approval.
chknltl
(10,558 posts)Witnesses report rock and robot were earlier involved in heated argument over whether or not shaved pubes makes one look like a ten year old.
StrictlyRockers
(3,854 posts)Engage!
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)NickB79
(19,109 posts)Well, now the NLA (National Laser Association).
hunter
(38,263 posts)Gman
(24,780 posts)greiner3
(5,214 posts)About Curiosity;
"Upon landing, Curiosity killed the only cat on Mars."
GodlessBiker
(6,314 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)flamingdem
(39,303 posts)blam
This is just the most amazing accomplishment. Viva Nasa!
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)of a planetary arms race.
octothorpe
(962 posts)Sadly I cannot find any such discussion anywhere on the internets.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Shankapotomus
(4,840 posts)hit the only and first instance of microbial life on Mars and killed it?
Uh oh. Whoops.