The Strange Attraction of Gale Crater   
       
   Sept. 29, 2011: Curiosity is about to go to Mars.  The car-sized rover, also   
   known as the Mars Science Lab, is scheduled for launch in late November or   
   early December 2011 from the Kennedy Space Center.  After an eight-month   
   voyage to Mars, Curiosity will land at the foot of a 3 mile high mountain in a   
   crater named "Gale."   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20110624.html   
       
   An artist's concept of Curiosity in Gale Crater. [video] It sounds a little   
   odd-a mountain in the middle of an impact crater. Wouldn't the impact have   
   smashed it flat? Some scientists believe the 96 mile wide crater filled in   
   with sediments over time and relentless Martian winds carved a mountain in the   
   center, where it now stands nearly three times higher than the Grand Canyon is   
   deep.   
       
   Because of its history, this strangely sculpted mountain is the ideal place   
   for Curiosity to conduct its mission of exploration into the Red Planet's   
   past. Joy Crisp, MSL Deputy Project Scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion   
   Laboratory, explains:   
       
   "This may be one of the thickest exposed sections of layered sedimentary rocks   
   in the solar system. The rock record preserved in those layers holds stories   
   that are billions of years old -- stories about whether, when, and for how   
   long Mars might have been habitable."   
       
    Today the Red Planet is a radiation-drenched, bitterly cold, bleak world.   
   Enormous dust storms explode across the barren landscape and darken Martian   
   skies for months at a time. But data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter   
   suggest that Mars once hosted vast lakes and flowing rivers.   
       
   "Gale Crater and its mountain will tell this intriguing story," says Matthew   
   Golombek, Mars Exploration Program Landing Site Scientist from JPL. "The   
   layers there chronicle Mars' environmental history."   
       
   http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110729.html   
       
   Gale crater photographed from above by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Within   
   Gale, an impressive layered mountain rises about 5 kilometers (3 miles) above   
   the crater floor. [larger image] [ScienceCast video]   
   In the gentle slopes around the mountain, Curiosity will prospect for organic   
   molecules, the chemical building blocks of life. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter   
   has found an intriguing signature of clay near the bottom of the mountain and   
   sulfate minerals a little higher up. Both minerals are formed in the presence   
   of water, which increases potential for life-friendly environments.   
       
   "All the types of aqueous minerals we've detected on Mars to date can be found   
   in this one location," explains Golombek.   
       
   Clay settles slowly in water and forms little platelets that conform around   
   things, hardening over time and encasing them in ''casts." Clay could seal   
   organics off from the outside environment much like it preserved dinosaur   
   bones on Earth.   
       
   "If organics ever existed on Mars, they could be preserved in the clay."   
       
   Even on planet Earth, teeming with life, finding billion year-old   
   well-preserved organics is difficult. But Curiosity will find them if they're   
   present in the samples it takes.  The rover is equipped with the most advanced   
   suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the Martian   
   surface1.  When these are brought to bear on Gale crater's mysteriously   
   layered mountain, the odds of a discovery will be at an all-time high.   
       
   As seasoned travelers know, however, the journey is just as important as the   
   destination. Curiosity can travel up to 150 meters per Mars day, but will stop   
   often to gather and analyze samples.   
       
   "It could take several months to a year to reach the foot of the mountain,   
   depending on how often the rover stops along the way," says Golombek. "There   
   will be plenty to examine before getting to the central mound."   
       
   A high-resolution camera on the rover's mast will take pictures and movies of   
   the scenery, taking Earthlings on an extraterrestrial sightseeing tour.   
       
   "As Curiosity climbs toward higher layers, you'll see spectacular valleys and   
   canyons like those in the U.S. desert southwest. The walls on either side of   
   the rover will rise over 100 feet. The sights alone will be worth the trip."   
       
   Stay tuned for updates from the Red Planet.   
       
       
   Author: Dauna Coulter | Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA   
       
   More Information   
   Mars Science Laboratory -- Curiosity's home page   
       
   Footnotes:   
       
   1Curiosity will carry the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for   
   scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface, continued:  For example,   
   the Sample Analysis at Mars or "SAM" instrument inside the rover's body can   
   detect a fainter trace of organics and identify a wider variety of them than   
   any instrument yet sent to Mars. Its vents open to the atmosphere so it can   
   "sniff" the air bird-dog style for evidence of its quarry. It can also "sniff"   
   gases released after baking a sample in its oven. SAM is not restricted to   
   soil samples. It can also analyze samples from inside rocks courtesy of the   
   drill on Curiosity's robotic arm.   
       
   "Mounted on the rover's mast is ChemCam--a laser that can aim at a rock and   
   vaporize a small spot on it, producing a plasma cloud we can analyze to learn   
   that rock's chemistry," adds Joy Crisp.   
       
   In addition to ChemCam, the mast sports a high-resolution camera called,   
   naturally, Mastcam. It will take pictures and video of geological structures   
   and features, like craters, gullies, and dunes. The rover's robotic arm is   
   equipped with a brush to remove dust from rock surfaces, a drill to collect   
   rock powder, and a scoop to collect soil. "Once a sample or rock powder or   
   soil has been collected, Curiosity shakes it through a sieve and into a   
   portioner and then delivers sample portions to one or both of the two analysis   
   instruments inside the body of the rover," says Crisp. "In other words, the   
   rover does the prep work a human in a lab usually does. We'll send the rover a   
   sequence of commands to enable it to do all this."  The rock powder and soil   
   samples will be examined for organic molecules by SAM and for mineralogy by an   
   X-ray diffraction instrument. The arm also wields its own unique instruments.   
   One of them is APXS, the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer, which will measure   
   the abundance of chemical elements in the dust, soils, rocks, and processed   
   samples. The other arm instrument MAHLI, the Mars Hand Lens Imager, will   
   return color images like those of typical digital cameras and act like a   
   geologist's magnifying lens. Its images can be used to examine the structure   
   and texture of rocks, dust, and frost at the micrometer to centimeter scale.   
   On the back of the rover is an instrument that can measure the hydrogen   
   abundance in the ground under the rover and identify interesting soils and   
   rocks worthy of further investigation. Curiosity will also carry instruments   
   for observing Martian weather and measuring cosmic and solar energetic   
   radiation bombarding the planet's surface.   
       
   Learn more about Curiosity's instruments at http://mars.jpl.nasa   
   gov/msl/mission/instruments/   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- D'Bridge 3.64   
    * Origin: NCS BBS (1:3828/7)