Curiosity get up close with the Martian surface (by vapourising part of the nearest rock with a laser) Successful ChemCham test described as 'target practice'Laser sent 30 pulses over 10 seconds to vapourise a pinhead sized piece of rock, which was then analysed by a microscope on Curiosity By Mark Prigg Published: 07:15 GMT, 20 August 2012 | Updated: 23:29 GMT, 20 August 2012 The Mars rover Curiosity zapped its first rock on Sunday with a high-powered laser gun designed to analyze Martian mineral content, and scientists declared their target practice a success.
The robotic science lab aimed its laser beam at the fist-sized stone nearby and shot the rock with 30 pulses over a 10-second period, NASA said in a statement issued from mission control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Los Angeles. Each pulse delivers more than 1 million watts of energy for about five one-billionths of a second, vapourising a pinhead-sized bit of the rock to create a tiny spark, which is analyzed by a small telescope mounted on the instrument. Scroll down for video. Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures images of Curiosity rover.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted Curiosity rover on December 11 It is due to reach the Mount Sharp's foothills around the middle of this yearOnce there, scientists want Curiosity to climb up the mountain, reading a record of the red planet's changing environment on its way By Ellie Zolfagharifard Published: 17:51 GMT, 13 January 2014 | Updated: 10:17 GMT, 14 January 2014.
Curiosity rover: Incredible panoramic views of red planet revealed. Panoramic photo from Curiosity turned into interactive image to navigate MarsCreator Andrew Bodrov has done the same with world landmarks like Russia's Red Square and the Sphinx of EgyptNasa releases brand new images of the rover from an orbiter hovering above the planet Curiosity successfully landed on Mars on August 5 By James Nye and Mark Prigg and Associated Press and Thomas Durante Published: 02:21 GMT, 15 August 2012 | Updated: 07:12 GMT, 15 August 2012 Now that Curiosity is stationed on Mars, stunning images of the red planet keep on coming - but nothing like this.
A panoramic photo from Curiosity has been used to create an interactive image that allows a user to navigate around the planet's surface just as easily as you would with Google Earth. The image was put together by web developer and panographer Andrew Bodrov, who has done the same with world landmarks like the Sphinx in Egypt and Moscow's Red Square Scroll down for video. Relief for NASA as Curiosity rover gets up and running again on Mars after a week of computer glitches. One of the rover's two onboard computers had become corruptedNASA had suspended operations, placing Curiosity in a 'safe mode' By Reuters Reporter Published: 15:18 GMT, 26 March 2013 | Updated: 15:18 GMT, 26 March 2013 NASA's Mars rover Curiosity yesterday resumed analysis of a sample of rock powder following a computer glitch that suspended operations for a week.
Before the computer problem, results radioed back to Earth revealed that the rock, located near Curiosity's Gale Crater landing site, contains all the chemical ingredients necessary for microbial life, the over-arching goal of the planned two-year mission. Scientists are eager for additional information about the rock sample, which was drilled out from what appears to be a slab of bedrock in an area known as Yellowknife Bay. After back-to-back computer problems, the six-wheel Curiosity rover, seen in this self-portrait, has resumed its science experiments. Nasa's Curiosity Rover undergoes 'brain transplant' after taking stunning panorama pictures of the Red Planet. Engineers updating the Curiosity's software to allow it to drive on Mars President Obama calls the project team to congratulate themReveals blast marks on surface caused by Curiosity's landing rocketsRover has also sent back first high resolution panorama as scientists test its instruments By James Nye and Mark Prigg and Daily Mail Reporter Published: 16:09 EDT, 12 August 2012 | Updated: 21:26 EDT, 13 August 2012 After releasing exciting images of Mars, NASA's Curiosity rover is undergoing a crucial four day ‘brain transplant’.
Engineers were today continuing to update the rover’s software which is currently in its flight stage to prepare it for its further missions on Mars, NASA said. Curiosity completes first analysis of Martian soil - but fails to find ingredients for life. Officials had promised finding 'for the history books' - but say their enthusiasm was misunderstoodNasa researchers say 'no definitive detection' of organic compounds on the surface, but find tantalising hints in could be there By Mark Prigg Published: 18:13 GMT, 3 December 2012 | Updated: 09:09 GMT, 5 December 2012 The Mars rover Curiosity has completed its first chemical test of soil from the red planet, and scientists say there are no surprises so far.
The spacecraft is on a mission to look for ingredients in Martian soil and rocks that could support life. Second computer glitch shuts down NASA Mars rover. Mars Curiosity pictures: Nasa rover's incredible colour panorama. First colour landscape photograph sent from the $2.5 billion roverReveals blast marks on surface caused by Curiosity's landing rocketsRover has also sent back its first 'self portrait' as scientists test its instruments By James Nye and Mark Prigg Published: 02:06 GMT, 10 August 2012 | Updated: 12:30 GMT, 10 August 2012 Exciting images from NASA's Curiosity rover show exactly what your eyes would see if you were standing on the surface of Mars on a late afternoon day.
The excellent panoramic image is the first colour landscape photograph provided from the $2.5 billion Martian rover and was taken with the probe's MastCams which extend above the the spacecraft. The panoramic mosaic, comprising 130 separate images that Curiosity captured with its newly activated navigation cameras, shows a rust-colored, pebble-strewn expanse stretching to a wall of the crater's rim in one direction and a tall mound of layered rock in another.
Scroll down for video A handout photo provided by U.S. Curiosity find Mars is a lot like Hawaii. First analysis of Martian soil finds striking similarities to Mount Kea in HawaiiTeam found half of weathered soil made up of non-crystalline materials, like volcanic glass By Mark Prigg Published: 10:52 GMT, 31 October 2012 | Updated: 11:02 GMT, 1 November 2012 In the first chemical analysis of of minerals on another planet, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity found soil that bears a striking resemblance to weathered, volcanic sand in Hawaii, scientists have revealed.
The rover uses an X-ray imager to reveal the atomic structures of crystals in the Martian soil, the first time the technology, known as X-ray diffraction, has been used to analyze soil beyond Earth. 'This was a 22-year journey and a magical moment for me,' NASA's David Blake, lead scientist for the rover's mineralogical instrument, told reporters during a conference call.
Scroll down for video. Mars Discovery: NASA touts Curiosity data that points to historic discovery. Andrew Bodrov/360Cities.net/NASA/JPL/Caltech.
Curiosity is living up to its name. The NASA rover currently wheeling itself around Mars has apparently sent back some very interesting data from the Red Planet in the form of a soil sample that shows ... well, something. From the sounds of it, something big. But for now at least, that's all anyone is willing to say. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena are keeping their lips sealed for the time being while they run additional tests to make sure the discovery holds up. "This data is gonna be one for the history books," John Grotzinger, the rover mission's principal investigator, told NPR last week for a the buzz-inciting segment that aired today.
Of course, the reason that NASA is keeping the potential find (mostly) under wraps is because it may turn out to be nothing but a false alarm, something that's happened before to the mission. So why doesn't Grotzinger want to share his exciting news? Nasa reveals the drivers waiting to take control of Curiosity, the agency's 'monster truck on Mars' By Damien Gayle Published: 15:48 GMT, 9 August 2012 | Updated: 16:54 GMT, 9 August 2012 A select group of engineers and programmers have trained for years to drive Curiosity as it makes its journey through harsh terrain of the Red Planet's Gale Crater.
Only 20 candidates from across the world have qualified to take the wheel of the latest Mars rover, a hulking titanium, aluminium and silicon contraption with six, snare drum-sized wheels. 'We've essentially put a monster truck on Mars,' said Nasa engineer Brian Cooper in an interview published in the Los Angeles Times. 'Monster truck on Mars': This Picasso-like self portrait of NASA's Curiosity rover, taken by its Navigation cameras, shows what the vehicle's pilots must control when they take the reins next week If all goes well, the rover will begin moving about the surface of Mars next week after a full system check to make sure it has not been damaged by its journey and its descent. Big News From Mars? Rover Scientists Mum For Now. Hide captionNASA's Mars rover Curiosity dug up five scoops of sand from a patch nicknamed "Rocknest.
" A suite of instruments called SAM analyzed Martian soil samples, but the findings have not yet been released. NASA/JPL-Caltech. Incredible panoramic image shows the towering mountain looming above Curiosity in the centre of Mars' Gale Crater. Aeolis Mons rises 18,000ft from the centre of the Gale CraterIt's base to peak height is greater than any mountain on our planetNasa says it appears to be enormous layered-mound of sedimentPanorama made from dozens of telephoto images taken by Curiosity By Damien Gayle Published: 12:46 GMT, 18 March 2013 | Updated: 16:26 GMT, 18 March 2013 Curiosity has sent back an incredible panoramic image of the towering mountain which looms above the crater it has spent the last eight months exploring on the surface of Mars. Aeolis Mons rises nearly three-and-a-half miles (18,000ft) from the centre of the Gale Crater, making its base to peak height greater than any mountain on Earth.
Known unofficially as Mount Sharp, the massive peak is an enormous layered-mound of eroded sediment rising above the crater floor location Curiosity has been exploring. Has the Mars rover Curiosity conspiracy been solved? Disappearing blotch on pictures could have been debris. By James Nye Published: 04:59 GMT, 9 August 2012 | Updated: 12:56 GMT, 11 August 2012 The mystery behind a strange blotch on the picture pictures Nasa's Curiosity rover sent back from Mars may have been solved.
Conspiracy theorists worked themselves up into a lather over a mysterious blob. However, mission controllers now say it could have simply been dust from the rover's landing. Tyre tracks that are out of this world: The incredible images that show Curiosity taking its first drive on the Martian surface. Rover drove forward 8 feet (2.5m)Landing site has now been named Bradbury Landing in honour of the late science fiction author Ray BradburyComes as new fan-made video claims to show rover's descent in high definition for the first time By Mark Prigg.
Are these our Martian overlords ... or just 'dead pixels' of a camera? Images beamed back from Curiosity lead to talk of UFOs on Mars. UFO hunters claim to have spotted lights in the Martian skyExperts insist they are nothing more than blemishes on the camera By Eddie Wrenn Published: 13:04 GMT, 22 August 2012 | Updated: 16:44 GMT, 22 August 2012 When Curiosity first touched down on Mars, Internet pranksters were quick to mock up photographs of alien life on the alien landscape. But it seems Nasa has itself captured something very strange on camera, including a strange white light dancing across the horizon of the red planet, and four blobs hovering in the sky. The mountains of Mars: NASA Rover makes incredible discovery as spacecraft beams back images 352million miles from the Red Planet - and it looks just like Earth! The clearest image ever taken of the surface of Mars reveals an Earth-like desert-scape that has been compared to the Mojave in California.
One small step for a rover: The amazing 'first footprint on Mars' left on by Curiosity. Curiosity goes digging on the red planet - and finds mysterious shiny particles. Rover abandoned one scoop of soil due to fears it contained debris from the roverEngineers focusing on shiny material found in soil and believed to be of Martian origin By Mark Prigg Published: 09:50 GMT, 16 October 2012 | Updated: 12:06 GMT, 16 October 2012 It may look uncannily like a pristine beach just moments after a child with a bucket and spade has descended, but in fact this if the surface of Mars - where Curiosity has begun digging in earnest. Curiosity gets its first taste of Martian soil as Nasa hopes to solve the mystery of the. Scoop of soil will be analysed to find out what minerals are present in the Martian landscapeEngineers focusing on unusual shiny particles spotted in soilRover has arrived in Glenelg, described as 'promised land' for its varied terrain.
Mars rover Curiosity brings back Nasa's first 3D images from the Martian surface. Mars Curiosity rover landing shown in new HD video. By Daily Mail Reporter. Postcards from Mars: NASA releases first fascinating high-res images of the Red Planet taken by Curiosity rover. This is why we must invest in ourselves! “We are much closer today to being able to send humans to Mars than we were to being able to send men to the moon in 1961, and we were there eight years later. Given the will, we could have humans on Mars within a decade.” David Oh: Meet the family of Nasa Curiosity scientist who are living on MARS time. By Snejana Farberov. Ground control to Will.i.am: The Voice judge becomes first person to debut record on Mars.
By David Gardner. Curiosity lands on Mars. Curiosity completes its longest drive yet as Nasa scientists explain morse code hidden in its tyre tracks. Nasa engineers drive Curiosity to investigate mysterious rock on the red planet. Curiosity rover. Internet conspiracy theories begin over mystery blotch that appears on Mars rover photo - but then disappears two hours later. Information on Curiosity. NASA rover Curiosity beams back video of Mars landing. NASA rover Curiosity lands on Mars. NASA jubilant as Curiosity rover lands safely on Mars - space - 06 August 2012.