NASA's Mars rover has reached an area that is thought to have formed billions of years ago when the Red Planet's water vanished.
Scientists think salty minerals were left behind when streams and ponds dried up in the area. It's possible that this region holds clues about how the Martian climate changed from being similar to Earth's to being barren.
The salty minerals that enrich this area of Mount Sharp were first seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
There are awe-inspiring photos of Mars.
A variety of rock types and signs of past water were discovered by the rover when it finally got a close-up look at the terrain.
The team chose a rock nicknamed "Canaima" for the drilling and collection of the mission's 36th drill sample after accounting for stresses on the end of the rover's 7-foot (2 meters) arm that's used to pulverize rock samples for analysis.
The project manager said that they brushed away the dust and poked the top surface with the drill. The lack of scratch marks was an indication that it might be hard to drill.
The team stopped to look at the situation. In order to minimize the use of percussion, they decided to go ahead, and no percussion was required.
Pieces of the sample will be analyzed using the Chemical and Mineralogy instrument and Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.
The rover traveled through Paraitepuy Pass to reach the region. This terrain is difficult to navigate and took over a month to navigate. Even though Paraitepuy Pass is mostly free of sharp rocks that can damage the rover's wheels, sand can be just as dangerous if the rover gets stuck.
The Mars sky was blocked by the hills around it, meaning that the rover's antenna had to be positioned so that it could remain in contact with Mars.
A panorama of the region captured on Aug. 14 was one of the amazing images from the Mast cam.
Elena Amador- French, who manages collaboration between the science and engineering teams, said that they would get new images every morning. There were beautiful sand ridges. There are rover tracks on them. The cliffs were pretty and we were close to the walls.
There is a difficult road ahead despite the clearing of Paraitepuy pass. The rocky terrain of this region makes it difficult to place all six of the rover's wheels on stable ground.
Operators wouldn't risk unfolding the drill-holding arm if it clashed with jagged rocks.
The more interesting the science results are, the more obstacles Mars throws at us.
After a decade on Mars, the rover still has a lot of ground to cover.
We encourage you to follow us on social networking sites.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
