Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity

[ekoplaneta]

Po wykonaniu badań skał Aberlady i Kilmarie łazik Curiosity przez kilka soli wykonywał badania sąsiedniej wydmy, znajdującej się na pólnocny zachód od dotychczasowego miejsca badań:

One of the big questions is where the sand comes from: by measuring the chemical composition of the sand at Rigg we can compare with sand we have seen earlier in the mission to see if the chemistry is different enough that there must be different sources. We also can compare the grain sizes in different parts of the ripple to get a better understanding of how the wind sorts sand grains under martian gravity and atmospheric pressure.

Studying the shape of the ripples in detail also helps us compare modern bedforms (the generic term for dune-like features of all sizes) to the ancient ones we see preserved in the rocks, which lets us infer similarities or differences in the environment. And of course, looking closely at these wind-blown sand features lets us get a better handle on what the winds are like in Gale crater right now.


https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=2019/sol-2409-playing-in-the-sand

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-2410-2412-grains-up-close

Kilka zdjęć z sol 2409  (17 maja 2019):







https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2409

Dzień później podczas sol 2410 łazik zaobserwował ciekawe chmury tuż po zachodzie Słońca:







https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2410

[ekoplaneta]

Podczas sol 2412 (20 maja 2019) łazik zawrócił od wydm i udaje się w dalszą podróż w dalsze rejony Clay Bearing Unit 









https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2412

Lokalizacja łazika podczas sol 2412:



https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/imgs/2019/05/MSL_TraverseMap_Sol2412-fi.jpg

Proponowana dalsza trasa przejazdu Curiosity:

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA23179_modest.jpg

Ta sama trasa na tle zróżnicowania geologicznego podnóża Aeolis Mons:

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA23179_fig1.jpg

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23179

[ekoplaneta]

Fragment selfie łazika wykonany podczas badań Aberlady i Kilmarie:



http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=44670

Pokolorowane zdjęcie pierzastych chmur sfotografowanych podczas sol 2412:



http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=44703

[ekoplaneta]

Łazik po ponad miesięcznym wierceniu i badaniu skał Aberlady oraz Kilmarie, badaniu wydmy oraz ujechaniu niewielkiej odległości być może wkrótce rozpocznie nową kampanię wiercenia w skale Broad Cairn. Na razie zbierane są informację czy to miejsce jest bogate w potas:

After a short six meter drive to "Hallaig," the science team began the investigation of a new potential drill target named "Broad Cairn," a flat spot on a bright block in the clay-bearing unit. To confirm whether this location is high in potassium (K), the rover was commanded to clean off the spot with the dust removal tool (DRT), then take some close-up pictures with the MAHLI camera, followed by an APXS integration at the right time of day to maximize the data quality.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-2415-cairn-today-drill-tomorrow

[ekoplaneta]

Skała ,,Broad Cairn" okazała się uboga w potas i zrezygnowano z wiercenia. Następnie łazik wrócił się o 130 metrów do ,,Woodland Bay", gdzie znajduje się ciekawa warstwowana skała (poniżej na zdjeciu po prawej stronie) w celu jej obserwacji:



https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-2416-2418-drill-no-go-time-for-plan-b

Obecnie łazik wraca z powrotem w kierunku południowo zachodnim. Jesli dobrze rozumiem zdążając do Woodland Bay:

We've left multiple tracks across the cobblestone plain of Glen Torridon. This image shows our current view to the northeast, with the slope of Mount Sharp on the right and the scarp of Vera Rubin Ridge on the left. Curiosity had a nice, long drive retracing our path back toward the southwest where we want to look at some rock layers in more detail. It's always nice to look back on an area that taught you a lot while heading forward to answer new questions.

Today, we planned another 3 sols of activities for Curiosity. We start off sol 2419 with Mastcam images of "Scolty Bay" and "Tomintoul," both of which we imaged on our way east on sols 2385 and 2363, respectively. We follow up with ChemCam analyses and Mastcam documentation images of "Hillhead," "Kinghorn," and "Cumbernauld" to characterize different colored pebbles. Later in the first sol, we will take MAHLI images of Hillhead, Kinghorn, and "Kintore" as well as analyze their elemental compositions with APXS. APXS will collect data on Kinghorn overnight to increase the precision of the analysis.

We start sol 2420 by retracting the arm and swinging it to clean any dust off the APXS instrument. ChemCam then analyzes a fourth target, "Cupar," before a drive of about 60 meters to Woodland Bay. Curiosity will take post-drive images to help us plan the next set of activities, and ChemCam will automatically analyze a target.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sols-2419-2421-easy-driving

Poniżej kilka zdjęć z sol 2420 (28 maja 2019):

















https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2420

[ekoplaneta]

Lokalizacja łazika podczas sol 2420 (29 maja 2019):



https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/?ImageID=10071

[ekoplaneta]

Nowa panorama i selfie od Curiosity wykonane nad skałami Aberlady i Kilmarie 

Ponadto łazik w Aberlady i Kilmarie wykrył największą podczas swojej misji zawartość minerałów ilastych w podłożu Marsa. Ponadto wykrył niewielkie ilości hematytu pochodzące z sąsiedniego Vera Rubin Ridge 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7412

A mnie bardzo nurtuje pytanie czy łazik wykrył w skałach Aberlady i Kilmarie związki organiczne? Jeśli tak to czy było ich dużo. Minerały ilaste nadają się dobrze do przechowywania związków organicznych i mikroskamieniałości bakterii. Szkoda, że MSL nie ma sprzętu do zbioru i kapsułkowania próbek. Oczywiście swego czasu NASA miała na to mało kasy, mimo, że start opóźnił się o dwa lata 

[ekoplaneta]

W najbliższym tygodniu łazik ma wjechać na jeden z grzbietów znajdujących się w Glenn Torridon. Grzbiet ten zbudowany jest z piasku i okruchów ale wierzch pokryty jest warstwowaną skałą, którą ma zbadać łazik.  Poza tym Curiosity będzie poszukiwał trąb pyłowych oraz badał chmury na marsjańskim niebie 

We are investigating the ridges which are such a prominent feature in this section of Glen Torridon. The ridges appear to be composed of sand and pebbles, capped with layered bedrock (see image above). The Rover Planners (RPs) at JPL assessed the ridge imaged, known as "Teal," and gave a GO for driving up onto it. We broke the ascent into two drives, aiming to get halfway in yestersol's plan (sol 2436) and the rest of the way in this weekend's plan. The RPs got us exactly to where we wanted to be for this plan, and we ended up on a very small outcrop of more coherent bedrock, surrounded by pebbles and sand.

Those of us in the Geology theme group (GEO) were very excited to find ourselves here, as this is the most substantial piece of bedrock we have seen this week. APXS will analyze the "Iapetus" target on the bedrock, and do a 2-point raster "Almond" across small grey pebbles and sand. The rover was too close to Iapetus to allow ChemCam to shoot it with the LIBS laser without danger to the rover, so ChemCam focused on documenting pebbles here, looking at the targets "Angus," "Braan," and "Tweed." A Mastcam multispectral image, using multiple filter types, will examine spectral variability of the pebbles and sand between Tweed and Almond.

Before climbing up onto the ridge, Mastcam will take some colour imagery, looking at the rubbly material in the lower part of the ridge, and documenting the transition from the rubbly material to the capping material.

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/

Zdjęcia z sol 2437 (15 czerwca 2019)















https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?s=#/?slide=2437

Piękna panoramka z sol 2437:

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=44819

Jest to jeden z grzbietów na która ma wkrótce wjechać łazik MSL 

Tutaj:

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=44816

lokalizacja łazika.

[kanarkusmaximus]

Piękne! Możliwe, że będzie naprawdę ciekawy widoczek!

[kanarkusmaximus]

Uwaga! Ważna informacja! MSL w piątek odkrył bardzo wysoki podskok metanu
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/science/nasa-mars-rover-life.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-discovery-hints-possibility-life-mars-curiosity-rover-2019-6?IR=T

Ponoć zmieniono badania łazika, by się przyjrzeć temu podskoku.

[wini]

Uwaga! Ważna informacja! MSL w piątek odkrył bardzo wysoki podskok metanu
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/science/nasa-mars-rover-life.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-discovery-hints-possibility-life-mars-curiosity-rover-2019-6?IR=T

Ponoć zmieniono badania łazika, by się przyjrzeć temu podskoku.

Bardzo ciekawa informacja. Na ile się orientuje próbują chyba teraz potwierdzić to.

[ekoplaneta]

Super obserwacja! Czy metanu jest na tyle dużo żeby zbadać izotop węgla w jego składzie?

[kanarkusmaximus]

A jakieś wartości są gdzieś podane? (ten link z nytimes u mnie działa tylko do pierwszego zdania - nie mogę nic więcej przeczytać...)

[Orionid]

When Curiosity arrived on Mars in 2012, it looked for methane and found nothing, or at least less than 1 part per billion in the atmosphere. Then, in 2013 it detected a sudden spike, up to 7 parts per billion that lasted at least a couple of months.

The methane ebbed away.

The measurement this week found 21 parts per billion of methane, or three times the 2013 spike.

Rekordowa różnica w pomiarach metanu.

[Orionid]

O meandrach związanych z naturą metanu na Marsie

UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN OF METHANE ON MARS THROUGH ISOTOPIC AND MOLECULAR DATA FROM NOMAD (EXOMARS): WILL THERE BE MORE ANSWERS OR QUESTIONS?
G. Etiope  Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy, 27–28 February 2018, ESAC Madrid, Spain

(...) In particular, it has been considered that 12C-enriched CH4 and high CH4/C2H6 ratios on Mars may indicate the existence of microbial activity, while 13Cenriched CH4 should be attributed to abiotic (inorganic) gas [1,2]. But things are not exactly like that. The interpretation of isotopic and molecular gas data is not straightforward: not on Earth, and even less on Mars. (...)

On Mars, CH4 oxidation, especially by hydrogen peroxide in the regolith, can increase the δ 13C value, transforming an apparent “microbial” signature into an “abiotic” one (Fig.1). (...)

Atmospheric and geological analysis can add insight into gas origins, but in future missions, direct gas detection in the Martian subsoil, coupled with a better knowledge of subsurface geology (type of rocks, permeability, temperatures) should reduce the interpretative uncertainties. (...)
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/documents/1499429/1583871/Etiope_G.pdf

Hipoteza o abiotycznej genezie metanu na Ziemi

Fire-Breathing Mountain Fueled by Mysterious Deep-Earth Methane Production
By Brandon Specktor, Senior Writer | May 2, 2019 01:25pm ET

(...) It is, however, a somewhat mysterious one. In the new study, Etiope lists the various hypotheses that have been offered to explain how methane might emerge from the deep Earth without any organic carbon involved. The explanations point to everything from cooling magma to steamy, deep-Earth minerals to primordial meteorites that delivered methane to Earth during the planet's formation. But the most widely cited theory involves a process called serpentinization.

This process occurs when water seeps through certain kinds of minerals in Earth's mantle, causing a metamorphic reaction that results in the release of hydrogen gas (H2). This molecular hydrogen may subsequently react with carbon gas (CO or CO2) in the deep Earth, resulting in the creation of methane. In the case of the Flames of Chimaera, Klein wrote, carbon-dioxide-rich limestone reacts with hydrogen-heavy serpentinized rocks that were bathed in rainwater. Hence, two millennia of mountainside fire farts. (...)
https://www.livescience.com/65386-abiotic-methane-makes-mountains-breathe-fire.html

https://www.iflscience.com/space/scientists-confirm-existence-of-methane-on-mars/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0331-9