Phys (UK) reports that four thousand Martian days “after setting its wheels in Gale Crater on Aug. 5, 2012, NASA’s Curiosity rover remains busy conducting exciting science.” The rover recently “drilled its 39th sample, then dropped the pulverized rock into its belly for detailed analysis.” To study “whether ancient Mars had the conditions to support microbial life, the rover has been gradually ascending the base of 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, whose layers formed in different periods of Martian history and offer a record of how the planet’s climate changed over time.”
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Tag: Curiosity Rover
Curiosity Rover Commemorates Ninth Year on Mars With Panoramic Photo
CNET News reports that NASA released on Tuesday a 360-degree panorama of Gale Crater taken by the Curiosity rover in July to mark nine years on Mars.
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Curiosity Rover Takes Picture of Cliff that Resembles Human Face
CNET News reports that on Tuesday, NASA’s Curiosity rover photographed “a scenic cliff that resembles a human face in profile with a heavy brow, a long nose, lips and a chin.”
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Large Organic Molecules
Aviation Week reports, “Samples of pulverized rock from the Martian surface gathered and analyzed by NASA’s Curiosity rover have found the largest collection of organic samples to date on the red planet. Findings published March 24 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences identifies the organics as molecular compounds of decane, undecane and dodecane, which are respectively comprised of 10, 11 and 12 carbon.”
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