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troutman · 08-20-2012, 01:24 PM

Rover's Laser Instrument Zaps First Martian Rock
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...20120819b.html

The mission's Chemistry and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, hit the fist-sized rock with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second.

The energy from the laser excites atoms in the rock into an ionized, glowing plasma. ChemCam catches the light from that spark with a telescope and analyzes it with three spectrometers for information about what elements are in the target.

"We got a great spectrum of Coronation -- lots of signal," said ChemCam Principal Investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M. "Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it's payoff time!"

NASA Curiosity Team Pinpoints Site for First Drive
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...l20120817.html

The target area, named Glenelg, is a natural intersection of three kinds of terrain.

The trek to Glenelg will send the rover 1,300 feet (400 meters) east-southeast of its landing site. One of the three types of terrain intersecting at Glenelg is layered bedrock, which is attractive as the first drilling target.

The first Curiosity 360-degree panorama including the mountain
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily.../08171906.html

08-20-2012, 01:24 PM	#232
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Rover's Laser Instrument Zaps First Martian Rock http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...20120819b.html The mission's Chemistry and Camera instrument, or ChemCam, hit the fist-sized rock with 30 pulses of its laser during a 10-second period. Each pulse delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The energy from the laser excites atoms in the rock into an ionized, glowing plasma. ChemCam catches the light from that spark with a telescope and analyzes it with three spectrometers for information about what elements are in the target. "We got a great spectrum of Coronation -- lots of signal," said ChemCam Principal Investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M. "Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it's payoff time!" NASA Curiosity Team Pinpoints Site for First Drive http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ms...l20120817.html The target area, named Glenelg, is a natural intersection of three kinds of terrain. The trek to Glenelg will send the rover 1,300 feet (400 meters) east-southeast of its landing site. One of the three types of terrain intersecting at Glenelg is layered bedrock, which is attractive as the first drilling target. The first Curiosity 360-degree panorama including the mountain http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily.../08171906.html Last edited by troutman; 08-20-2012 at 01:27 PM.