Curiosity Pulls into Kimberly and Spies Curvy Terrain For Drilling Action

NASA’s Curiosity rover has just pulled into gorgeous terrain chock full of curvy rock outcrops at Kimberly that’s suitable for contact science and drilling action, according to the mission team.
Curiosity parked at the periphery of Kimberly on Thursday, March 20, Sol 576, and captured breathtaking imagery of the rocky rows dominated by towering Mount Sharp on the distant horizon.

Click the link for images.

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rOZZ
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Thanks for keeping an eye on things Julie.

Cheers.

Very much looking forward to this. I remember the Spirit and Opportunity landings, but for some reason don't recall the Sojourner and Phoenix landings as much. The Viking missions are etched in my memory, though. I think that is because they were pioneers, plus they didn't have to compete with a million cable channels, and the internet. It's just as exciting as it ever was, but space exploration needs a good spokesperson like Carl Sagan to keep it in the public imagination.

Looking forward to it too! We in Britain had a bit of a sad ending to our Beagle missions to mars. The team were really up against it but did such a fantastic job of raising money for both Beagle 1 and 2 and were so endearing in their enthusiasm. But wiki says Beagle 1 rotted away, and we don't know about 2 because it never called home :( A quick look on the internet has come up with a suggestion that it was eaten by the great galactic ghoul... possibly because it was built by a worzel, but I don't know how scientific that is. :) But it would be nice if one of Nasa's missions found it - chilling out with a bone or two... :)

Seriously, though I am very interested, and thanks to Julie for keeping us up to date with developments :)

Welcome guys:)

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rOZZ
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time for an update:

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is currently at “the Kimberley,” a rock outcrop that features some interesting drilling targets, in particular Martian sandstones. Over the weekend, Curiosity spent time analyzing a particular sandstone slab, named “Windjana,” to determine if it is a potential drilling candidate.

Pic's inside.

http://www.ibtimes.com/nasa-curiosity-rover-gets-close-personal-martian-rock-named-windjana-photo-1576898

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Hey Gordon,
I thought that this was just a photo of Earth from Mars. Basically the same thing if you look up at the sky and see Mars from Earth. I could not discern the Moon in that photo since earth was just a dot.

Even in small backyard telescopes, Mars is really not that easy to see, and you can't see much like you can with Jupiter or Saturn; as Mars is half the size of earth.

I got a decent telescope for some viewing, but to view Mars in any type of format that we're exposed to today with the major science people like nasa and the rest, most backyard viewing is definitely sub-standard, and disappointing. A really nice 6" telescope or bigger is required to see anything worth seeing.

Btw, this is my first post here, but I joined back around 1999 (about the same time you did), and had 3 comps running seti at home back then, but as time went on interest waned and so did participation.

Feels good to be back.

Welcome to the boards, pageup :)

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Welcome Back, pageup :)

+1 :)

Welcome Back, pageup :)

+1 :)

+2

Btw, this is my first post here, but I joined back around 1999 (about the same time you did), and had 3 comps running seti at home back then, but as time went on interest waned and so did participation.

Have you tried reactivating your old account?

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rOZZ
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Pictures

Hey Gordon,
I thought that this was just a photo of Earth from Mars. Basically the same thing if you look up at the sky and see Mars from Earth. I could not discern the Moon in that photo since earth was just a dot.

This is the picture I was looking at:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/figures/PIA17936_fig2.jpg

Btw, this is my first post here, but I joined back around 1999 (about the same time you did), and had 3 comps running seti at home back then, but as time went on interest waned and so did participation.

Feels good to be back.

I registered here the day after I got my first internet account.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Can't see any sign of this already being posted... apologies if it has...

NASA explains Mars flashes

Not significant - just interesting... :)

One explanation they didn't mention though "sigh" is what I would have liked it to be...

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover performed a "mini-drill" operation Tuesday, April 29, on the rock target under consideration for the mission's third sample-collection drilling. This preparatory activity produced a hole about eight-tenths of an inch (2 centimeters) deep, as planned, in the target called "Windjana." The rover team plans to decide whether to proceed with deeper drilling of this rock in coming days.

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/martian-sandstone-dust-removal-20140429/index.html

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Can't see any sign of this already being posted... apologies if it has...

NASA explains Mars flashes

Not significant - just interesting... :)

One explanation they didn't mention though "sigh" is what I would have liked it to be...

Thanks for posting this Annie.

It's an older story that was not posted. I thought the light was from one of the older Rovers there?

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I they find a bug or two...

Portions of rock powder collected by the hammering drill on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from a slab of Martian sandstone will be delivered to the rover's internal instruments.

Rover team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received confirmation early today (Tuesday) of Curiosity's third successful acquisition of a drilled rock sample, following the drilling Monday evening (PDT). The fresh hole in the rock target "Windjana," visible in images from the rover, is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) deep.

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/drill-hole-20140506/index.html#.U2lm4VdWgVA
NASA's Curiosity Rover Drills Sandstone Slab on Mars

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I they find a bug or two...

Portions of rock powder collected by the hammering drill on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from a slab of Martian sandstone will be delivered to the rover's internal instruments.

Rover team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received confirmation early today (Tuesday) of Curiosity's third successful acquisition of a drilled rock sample, following the drilling Monday evening (PDT). The fresh hole in the rock target "Windjana," visible in images from the rover, is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.5 centimeters) deep.

http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/drill-hole-20140506/index.html#.U2lm4VdWgVA
NASA's Curiosity Rover Drills Sandstone Slab on Mars

Thanks for the update Lynn :)

Researchers have discovered on the Red Planet the largest fresh meteor-impact crater ever firmly documented with before-and-after images. The images were captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The crater spans half the length of a football field and first appeared in March 2012. The impact that created it likely was preceded by an explosion in the Martian sky caused by intense friction between an incoming asteroid and the planet's atmosphere.

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/may/nasa-mars-weather-camera-helps-find-new-crater-on-red-planet/index.html#.U35_0Cga3z8

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Can't find where to put this...? Remember somebody mentioning something about it somewhere, but can't find where - so going to pop it in here...

NASA's Saucer-Shaped Craft Preps for Flight Test



Looks a bit... paddling pool to me :)

Looks a bit... paddling pool to me :)

This is part of NASA's manned space flight plans "to boldly go where no man has gone before". Yes women too as it gets lonely in space.

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Dead stowaways landed on Mars in August 2012. That's for certain. But due to their diminutive size -- they were microbes -- it was easy to miss them as NASA's Curiosity Mars rover touched down. Less certain, but much more consequential, is whether any Earth-based bacteria survived the trip with it. On Monday, scientists in Boston presented research strongly suggesting that they might have.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-mars-comment25-20140525,0,4658785.story

The Earthlings that might already be living on Mars

Interesting.

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Dead stowaways landed on Mars in August 2012. That's for certain. But due to their diminutive size -- they were microbes -- it was easy to miss them as NASA's Curiosity Mars rover touched down. Less certain, but much more consequential, is whether any Earth-based bacteria survived the trip with it. On Monday, scientists in Boston presented research strongly suggesting that they might have.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-mars-comment25-20140525,0,4658785.story

The Earthlings that might already be living on Mars

Interesting.

Thanks for posting that story, Lynn. It's theoretically possible then, but probably highly unlikely, that some hardy microbes are either still attached to the hull of Curiosity, or have since jumped off and made Mars their new home!

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place