Mars Curiosity Rover to scoop up and analyze shiny Mars material

by Laura Domela

Shiny objects found on the surface of Mars may, in fact, be native to the planet. Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory team sent commands to the Mars Curiosity Rover today to pick up a bit of the reflective stuff and, if all goes well, perform its first analysis of the landscape since landing.

JPL says it will send commands to Curiosity today and will later analyze the scoop using “one of the Rover’s internal analytical instruments, the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument.” It will be further analyzed by a tool called the SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars instrument.
via Venture Beat

Image: NASA

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Mars Curiosity Rover to scoop up and analyze shiny Mars material

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