NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity snapped a view of itself and its surroundings on October 11, 2019 (the 2,553rd Martian day, or Sol, of its mission). The selfie (high-resolution version) is composed of 57 individual images taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera on the end of the rover’s robotic arm. The images are stitched together into a panorama; the robotic arm isn’t visible in the parts of the images used in the composite.
Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 11, 2019. The rover drilled twice in this location, nicknamed Glen Etive. Just left of the rover are the two drill holes, called Glen Etive 1 (right) and Glen Etive 2 (left). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.
“The new selfie was taken in a location named Glen Etive, which is part of the clay-bearing unit, a region the team has eagerly awaited reaching since before Curiosity launched,” said members of the Curiosity science team.
“Visible in the left foreground are two holes Curiosity drilled named Glen Etive 1 (right) and Glen Etive 2 (left).”
“The rover can analyze the chemical composition of rock samples by powderizing them with the drill, then dropping the samples into a portable lab in its belly called Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM).”
“About 984 feet (300 m) behind the rover is Vera Rubin Ridge, which Curiosity departed nearly a year ago.”
“Beyond the ridge, you can see the floor of Gale Crater and the crater’s northern rim.”
An annotated version of the above image. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.
On September 24, 2019, Curiosity carried out a chemistry experiment on a powderized sample from Glen Etive 2.
“SAM processes solid samples with its Sample Manipulation System (SMS),” the researchers explained.
“The heart of the SMS is a carousel containing 74 sample cups in two concentric rings. Most of the cups function as miniature ovens that heat the samples.”
“SAM then ‘sniffs’ the gases that bake off, looking for chemicals that hold clues about the Martian environment billions of years ago, when the planet was friendlier to microbial life.”
But nine of SAM’s 74 cups are filled with solvents the rover can use for special ‘wet chemistry’ experiments.
These chemicals make it easier for SAM to detect certain carbon-based molecules important to the formation of life, called organic compounds.
“Because there’s a limited number of wet-chemistry cups, we’ve been saving them for just the right conditions,” the scientists said.
“In fact, the experiment at Glen Etive is only the second time Curiosity has performed wet chemistry since touching down on Mars in August 2012.”
“We’ve been eager to find an area that would be compelling enough to do wet chemistry,” said SAM Principal Investigator Dr. Paul Mahaffy, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
“Now that we’re in the clay-bearing unit, we’ve finally got it.”
