Mars rover Curiosity reaches planet's salty region to study climate change
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Oct. 19 (UPI) -- NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has reached the planet's salty region that could provide clues about why the planet's climate evolved from Earth-like to desert over billions of years.
NASA scientists announced Wednesday that the rover recently arrived at the salty region of Mount Sharp after a treacherous month-long journey. The location is a milestone for scientists eager to analyze mineral samples from the "sulfate-bearing unit" for signs of past water on the Red Planet.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover reaches the planet's salty region at Mount Sharp to study mineral deposits scientists believe indicate past water. The rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this panorama of a hill nicknamed “Bolívar” and adjacent sand ridges on August 23.
Scientists believe that streams and ponds on Mars left mineral deposits as the planet's water dried up billions of years ago. Other signs of past water include popcorn-textured nodules and salty minerals such as magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate and sodium chloride.
"We're seeing evidence of dramatic changes in the ancient Martian climate," Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in August.
"The question now is whether the habitable conditions that Curiosity has found up to now persisted through these changes. Did they disappear, never to return, or did they come and go over millions of years?"
The mineral deposits were first spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter years before Curiosity landed in 2012. Since then, Curiosity has driven nearly 18 miles and analyzed 41 rock and soil samples.
The rover spent much of August navigating a canyon and high hills to reach its new home at Mount Sharp. Scientists worried about sharp rocks and sand damaging the rover, but the team was rewarded throughout with new images of scenery using the rover's Mast Camera or Mastcam.
"We would get new images every morning and just be in awe," said Elena Amador-French, Curiosity's science operations coordinator at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
"The sand ridges were gorgeous. You see perfect little rover tracks on them. And the cliffs were beautiful -- we got really close to the walls."
Since Curiosity's arrival in the salty region, scientists have pulled the mission's 36th drill sample from a rock nicknamed "Canaima" for future analysis. The team was forced to weigh the rover's mechanical limitations with their desire for information after worn brakes on the arm made it more difficult to hammer, or percussion, harder rocks.
"As we do before every drill, we brushed away the dust and then poked the top surface of Canaima with the drill. The lack of scratch marks or indentations was an indication that it may prove difficult to drill," said Curiosity's new project manager at JPL, Kathya Zamora-Garcia.
"We paused to consider whether that posed any risk to our arm," she said. "With the new drilling algorithm, created to minimize the use of percussion, we felt comfortable collecting a sample of Canaima."
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