Preparatory Drill Test Performed on Mars

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Preparatory Drill Test Performed on Mars

02.07.13

 

In an activity called the "mini drill test," NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its drill to generate this ring of powdered rock for inspection in advance of the rover's first full drilling. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
› Full image and caption       › Latest images       › Curiosity gallery       › Curiosity videos 

A blink pair of images taken before and after Curiosity performed a "mini drill" test on a Martian rock shows changes resulting from that activity. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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After an activity called the "mini drill test" by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera recorded this close-up view of the results during the 180th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Feb. 6, 2013). Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
› Full image and caption

PASADENA, Calif. - The drill on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used both percussion and rotation to bore about 0.8 inch (2 centimeters) into a rock on Mars and generate cuttings for evaluation in advance of the rover's first sample-collection drilling.

Completion of this "mini drill" test in preparation for full drilling was confirmed in data from Mars received late Wednesday at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. If the drill cuttings on the ground around the fresh hole pass visual evaluation as suitable for processing by the rover's sample handling mechanisms, the rover team plans to proceed with commanding the first full drilling in coming days.

An image of the hole and surrounding cuttings produced by the mini drill test is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16760.html .

The test was performed on a patch of flat, vein-bearing rock called "John Klein." The locations of earlier percussion-only testing and planned sample-collection drilling are also on John Klein. Pre-drilling observations of this rock yielded indications of one or more episodes of wet environmental conditions. The team plans to use Curiosity's laboratory instruments to analyze sample powder from inside the rock to learn more about the site's environmental history.

The planned full drilling will be the first rock drilling on Mars to collect a sample of material for analysis.

During a two-year prime mission, researchers are using Curiosity's 10 science instruments to assess whether the study area in Gale Crater on Mars ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

More information about Curiosity is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/msl andhttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

You can follow the mission on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and on Twitter athttp://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.

 

 

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

2013-051

 

Long-Distance Google+ Hangout with Space Station

Long-Distance Google+ Hangout with Space Station

Have you ever asked a question to someone in space? No? Well now’s your chance. In a first for the agency, NASA will host a Google+ Hangout live with the International Space Station on Feb. 22.

Google+ Hangouts allow people to chat face-to-face while thousands more can tune in to watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube. 

NASA Long-Distance Google+ Hangout to Connect with Space Station

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NASA Google+ Hangouts

 

NASA Long-Distance Google+ Hangout to Connect with Space Station

Have you ever asked a question to someone in space? No? Well now’s your chance. In a first for the agency, NASA will host a Google+ Hangout live with the International Space Station on Feb. 22. Google+ Hangouts allow people to chat face-to-face while thousands more can tune in to watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube. This unique opportunity will connect you, our fans, with astronauts living and working on the orbiting laboratory 240 miles above the Earth.

You are able to submit video questions prior to the Hangout. During the event, several video questions will be selected and answered by astronauts on the space station and on the ground. Additionally, NASA will ask real-time questions submitted by our followers on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook.

Unique and original questions are more likely to be selected. You can view the Hangout live on the NASA Google+ page or the NASA Television YouTube channel to watch the astronauts answer the questions.

Submitting Video Questions

To submit a video question, you must upload your video clip of less than 30 seconds to YouTube and tag it with #askAstro. Submitters should introduce themselves and mention their location. Questions must be tagged with #askAstro to be considered. The deadline to submit video questions is Feb. 12.

Submitting Real-Time Questions

To ask a real-time question during the event on Google+ or Twitter, please use the hashtag #askAstro. You can also post a comment on a thread on NASA’s Facebook page that will open for questions on the morning of the event.

Watching the Google+ Hangout

To join the hangout, and for updates and opportunities to participate in upcoming hangouts, visit NASA's Google+ page.

During the hangout, astronauts Kevin Ford, Chris Hadfield and Tom Marshburn will answer questions and provide insights about life aboard the station. Station crews conduct a variety of science experiments and perform station maintenance during their six-month stay on the outpost. Their life aboard the station in near-weightlessness requires unique approaches to everyday activities such as eating, sleeping and exercising.

NASA will continue to host hangouts with astronauts on the ground and in space, scientists, engineers and managers on the agency’s missions and milestones.

Follow Marshburn and Hadfield on Twitter at: @AstroMarshburn and @Cmdr_Hadfield.

Images Bring Earth to Light From Space Station

Images Bring Earth to Light From Space Station

There is a reason the phrase "shooting in the dark" refers to things that are difficult to do -- and night photography is no exception. To account for low-light image scenarios, a photographer needs a steady tripod, but aboard the International Space Station, a traditional tripod isn't going to cut it. Thankfully, the European Space Agency, or ESA, developed NightPod for the crew's cameras.

NightPod Images Bring Earth to Light From Space Station

NightPod Images Bring Earth to Light From Space Station

02.06.13

 

This image taken on Dec. 8, 2012, with the European Space Agency, or ESA, NightPod camera mount, shows the city of Liège, Belgium, as it appears at night from the vantage point of the International Space Station. (ESA/NASA)
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View of the European Space Agency, or ESA, NightPod hardware in the Cupola Module of the International Space Station. (NASA)
View large imageThere is a reason the phrase "shooting in the dark" refers to things that are difficult to do -- and night photography is no exception. To account for low-light image scenarios, a photographer needs a steady tripod, but aboard theInternational Space Station, a traditional tripod isn't going to cut it. Thankfully, the European Space Agency, or ESA, developed NightPod for the crew's cameras.

This astronaut photograph of Liège, Belgium, at night was taken using theNightPod camera mount aboard the space station. The mechanism allows astronauts to capture images of the Earth at night with greater clarity and control than previously possible from orbit.

"The challenges of low-light photography from orbit -- for example, the likelihood of blurry images because of the ground motion -- have always frustrated astronauts," said Cynthia Evans, International Space Station associate program scientist for Earth Observations. "Over the years, astronauts have experimented with different solutions, including high-speed films and manual tracking to compensate for the ground motion. The NightPod camera mount allows the crew to successfully track the Earth using low-light camera settings."

NightPod incorporates an ESA Nodding Mechanism, which is an electro-mechanical mount system for digital cameras designed to compensate for the motion of the station relative to the Earth. This high-tech, motorized tripod can compensate for the more than 17,000 mph (27,000 kph) speed of the station and the motion of the Earth below—no easy feat!

The crew enters the station's orbit and attitude into NightPod, enabling the instrument to automatically track a specific location on the ground and keep the target in frame for optimal focus. Since the system can be set to run automated for up to six hours, the crew can literally take pictures in their sleep.

To get an idea of just how clear images using NightPod are, look at how detailed the brightly lit core of the Liège urban area appears. It lies at the center of a network of roadways -- traceable by continuous orange lighting extending out into the rural and relatively dark Belgian countryside. For a sense of scale, the distance from image left to right is approximately 43 miles (70 kilometers). The region to the southeast of Verviers includes agricultural fields and forest; hence, it appears almost uniformly dark at night.

The image of Liège was acquired on Dec. 8, 2012, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 180 millimeter lens and the NightPod, and is provided by CEO investigators and the Image Science and Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 34 crew. It was cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts were removed.

Installation of NightPod was completed on Feb. 24, 2012, by astronaut André Kuipers, and some of the earliest images appear in this ESA story. The primary goal of NightPod is to take high-resolution, long-exposure digital imagery of the planet from the station's Cupola, particularly cities at night. Other scenarios of interest include evening observations of brush fires, visual analysis of maritime and road traffic, volcano activity, urban pollution, squid fishing and day/night transitions.

"Nighttime imagery from orbit provides an instant understanding about humanity's footprint on the Earth's surface," Evans said.

While the official NightPod mission is done, the mechanism remains on station for astronauts to use as part of the Crew Earth Observations, or CEO, investigation. For CEO, the astronauts photograph natural and human-made events on Earth from the orbiting lab. The images record the ground's surface changes over time, atmospheric phenomena like aurora and polar mesospheric clouds, and dynamic happenings such as storms, floods, fires and volcanic eruptions. Together with automated remote sensing systems on the space station, handheld camera imagery provides researchers with data to understand the planet from an orbital perspective.

The International Space Station Program supports the imaging laboratory as part of the U.S. National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those photographs freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

 

 

Jessica Nimon/William Stefanov
International Space Station Program Science Office