Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 8.23
The hole that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drilled into target rock “John Klein”
provided a view into the interior of the rock, as well as obtaining a sample of powdered material
from the sedimentary rock. See the light gray sandy material in the interior of it, different from
the reddish sand material which covers the Martian top surface. The rock is part of the Sheepbed
mudstone deposit in the Yellowknife Bay area of Gale Crater. This image, taken by Curiosity's
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera, reveals gray colored cuttings, rock powder and interior
wall. Notice the homogeneous, fine grain size of the mudstone, and the irregular network of
sulfate-filled hairline fractures. A vertical array of pits in the side of the hole resulted from using
the laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument to assess composition at those
points. The MAHLI took this image during the 270th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work
on Mars (May 10th, 2013). The diameter of the hole is about 1.6 cm (0.6 in.) and is about 2 cm
(0.8 in.) deep. The Sheepbed mudstone is interpreted to represent an ancient lake. It preserves
evidence of an environment that would have been suited to support microbes that get their energy
by eating chemicals in rocks. This wet environment was characterized by neutral pH, low salinity,
and variable oxidation of iron- and sulfur-containing minerals. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur,
nitrogen and phosphorus were measured directly as key elements for supporting possible life.
These results highlight the biological viability of fluvial-lacustrine environments (streams and
lakes) in the history of Mars after the earliest era of the Martian past, called the Noachian
Era of planet Mars (4.1 Gyrs - 3.7 Gyrs ago)
(
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?
ImageID=5765
- NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, May 10, 2013)
8.4
Timeline of Robotic Spacecraft to Study the “Red Planet”
Well, since October 10, 1960 - with the launch (failed) of the Soviet mission “Mars
1 M No. 1” - until nowadays, 2014, there have been 47 robotic missions to study
Mars. Of them, 18 missions failed, 27 had success, and 2 are in route to Mars.
Below is a timeline of all missions to Mars with their present status. The colored
logos represent the nations.
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