NASA Confirms Curiosity Obtained Mars Bedrock Sample

[JonB]

NASA Confirms Curiosity Obtained Mars Bedrock Sample

No previous rover has ever drilled into a rock on another planet.

NASA has confirmed that their Mars rover Curiosity has successfully drilled into the Martian bedrock and removed a usable sample. This is the first time a rover has drilled into an extraterrestrial rock and collected a sample from its interior. The scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were able to see the rock as it was transferred into an open scoop. "Seeing the powder from the drill in the scoop allowes us to verify for the first time the drill collected a sample as it bore into the rock," said a JPL systems engineer for Curiosity. "Many of us have been working toward this day for years. Getting final confirmation of successful drilling is incredibly gratifying. For the sampling team, this is the equivalent of the landing team going crazy after the successful touchdown."

Curiosity's arm drill took out a 2.5-inch (6.4 centimeter) hole in flat bedrock on February 8. The sample will now be sieved in aboard curiosity to remove particles larger than 0.006 inches across, those particles will then be transferred into Curiosity's interior. The interior of Curiosity includes two major instruments: the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument. The goal of testing rock in Mars' Gale crater is to see whether or not the crater has ever been a possible habitat for microbial life.

Image: NASA JPL [http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16729]


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[CardinalPiggles]

I call hax. Everyone knows you can't mine bedrock.

 

[1337mokro]

What's next is the Martian zombie fever of course.

We have NO fucking idea what's in that sample. If they ever bring bits back to earth we are all doomed!

 

[Quaxar]

Seems that there are a few first with 'Curiosity'. First that it is nuclear powered, now it drills into Mars. Can't help but wonder what comes next.

Stay tuned for "first robot uprising on the moon"!

But that picture makes it look like a cut-out from a 1970s Doctor Who K-9 promo picture.

 

[Strazdas]

Well you have jut digged a hole into this giant sleeping golem we have named Mars and awokened him, its only a matter of time till it grabs its swinging ball we call earth adn go on a rampage.

 

[Samantha Burt]

I call hax. Everyone knows you can't mine bedrock.

Dammit, I came here to say the exact same thing. xD

My main concern is that, yes you managed to get it... how do you plan on returning it to earth?

 

[Darks63]

Seems rather pointless in a way unless they have some way of retrieving the rover and bringing it back. Otherwise i'd assume all we could get are 3d models of what the soil sample looks like.

 

[FalloutJack]

Seems that there are a few first with 'Curiosity'. First that it is nuclear powered, now it drills into Mars. Can't help but wonder what comes next.

Discovery of the Ice Warriors?

Seems that there are a few first with 'Curiosity'. First that it is nuclear powered, now it drills into Mars. Can't help but wonder what comes next.

But that picture makes it look like a cut-out from a 1970s Doctor Who K-9 promo picture.

Affirmative, Master.

*Mechanical tail-wag and ear-shift*

But will this project...

...get off the ground?

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

(Actually, that's probably going to be the greatest party trick of all. My bets are on a second modcule made to specifically get the sample back.)

EDIT: I have received some more accurate information. Apparently, Curiosity has all the equipment it needs for a full analysis on board already. It's not a small machine, but a walking laboratory.