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Digging deep into Martian soil
NASA's rover takes a closer look at Mars' surface
Web edition: November 16, 2012
Print edition: December 1, 2012; Vol.182 #11 (p. 9)
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NASA's Curiosity rover is hard at work analyzing samples from Mars' surface, leaving behind scoop marks like this one as it goes.
JPL-Caltech/NASA, MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity rover isn’t leaving just tire tracks in the reddish Martian dust — it’s also leaving scoop marks in an area called Rocknest, about 480 meters away from where the rover touched down in August.
On October 30, NASA announced that the rover had completed its first detailed analysis of the Martian surface using the CheMin X-ray analysis instrument, which shoots X-rays into collected samples.
The results suggest that the Rocknest soil is rich in minerals such as olivine, feldspar and pyroxene, much like patches of weathered volcanic soil in Hawaii.
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