NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Results from the John Grotzinger MSL Project Scientist Mars Science Laboratory 4/4/13 Curiosity’s primary scienfic goal is to explore and quantavely assess a local region on Mars’ surface as a potenal habitat for life, past or present • Biological potenal • Geology and geochemistry • Role of water • Surface radiaon

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity’s Science Objectives NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS

Target: Gale Crater and Mount Sharp REMOTE SENSING ChemCam Mastcam Mastcam (M. Malin, MSSS) - Color and telephoto imaging, video, atmospheric opacity RAD ChemCam (R. Wiens, LANL/CNES) – Chemical composion; REMS remote micro-imaging

DAN CONTACT INSTRUMENTS (ARM) MAHLI (K. Edge, MSSS) – Hand-lens color imaging APXS (R. Gellert, U. Guelph, Canada) - Chemical composion

ANALYTICAL LABORATORY (ROVER BODY) MAHLI APXS SAM (P. Mahaffy, GSFC/CNES/JPL-Caltech) - Chemical and isotopic composion, including organics Brush MARDI Drill / Sieves CheMin (D. Blake, ARC) - Mineralogy Scoop Wheel Base: 2.8 m ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION Height of Deck: 1.1 m MARDI (M. Malin, MSSS) - Descent imaging Ground Clearance: 0.66 m REMS (J. Gómez-Elvira, CAB, Spain) - Meteorology / UV Height of Mast: 2.2 m RAD (D. Hassler, SwRI) - High-energy radiaon Mass: 900 kg DAN (I. Mitrofanov, IKI, Russia) - Subsurface hydrogen

Curiosity’s Investigation Teams Organic Check Material

Sample • Cleans rock surfaces with a brush Observaon Tray • Places and holds the APXS and MAHLI instruments Extra Drill Bits • Acquires samples of rock or soil Turret 2.25-m Robot Arm with a powdering drill or scoop

APXS • Sieves the samples (to 150 μm or 1 CHIMRA mm) and delivers them to instruments or an observaon tray • Exchanges spare drill bits

MAHLI Drill

Brush

Curiosity’s Sampling System NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona Curiosity progressed toward Glenelg, where three distinct terrain types meet NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The conglomerate “Link” with associated loose, rounded pebbles Jake Matijevic studied by Mastcam (image), APXS, and ChemCam

Composition is similar to alkaline basalts on Earth produced by partial melting of the mantle

Si Al sol34 Caltarget 90 min sol46 JakeMatijevic 30 min 10 Mg

Na APXS Spectra Fe S K Ca 1 Cl Ti

Mn P

Zn Br 0.1 Cr countspersecond Ni

0.01

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Energy [keV] NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/U. Guelph Rocknest Scooping Campaign NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Windblown “sand shadow” at the Rocknest site NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS MAHLI view of coarse (0.5 to 1.5 mm) sand from the ripple’s surface, and fine (< 0.25 mm) sand on wall and floor of trench Gases SAM and released CheMin during SAM analyses experiments of Rocknest

Sand composed of unaltered basaltic NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames minerals, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS similar to soils NASA/JPL-Caltech/Goddard on Mars

Also evidence for water, sulfates, carbonates, and X-ray potentially perchlorates diffraction pattern from CheMin Curiosity self-portrait at Rocknest

Assembled from 55 MAHLI images

Shows four scoop trenches and wheel scuff

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Measurements of Mars’ Atmosphere and Environment REMS’ ground and air temperature sensors are located on small booms on the rover’s mast

The ground temperature changes by 90°C (170 degrees Fahrenheit) between day and night

The air is warmer than the ground at night, and cooler during the morning, before it is heated by the ground NASA/JPL-Caltech/CAB(CSIC-INTA)

Curiosity’s Rover Environmental Monitoring Station is taking weather readings 24 × 7 Each day the pressure varies by over 10%, similar to the change in pressure between Los Angeles and Denver

Solar heating of the ground drives a pressure “tidal wave” that sweeps across the planet each day

Overall, the pressure is increasing as carbon dioxide sublimates from the southern seasonal polar cap

NASA/JPL-Caltech/CAB(CSIC-INTA)/FMI/Ashima Research Earth’s atmosphere = 101,325 Pascals, or about 140 times the pressure at Gale Crater

REMS pressure measurements detect local, regional, and global weather phenomena RAD observed galactic cosmic rays and five solar energetic particle events traveling from Earth to Mars

Mars’ atmosphere partially shields the surface from radiation. When the atmosphere is thicker (higher REMS pressure), RAD measures less radiation.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI

Curiosity’s Radiation Assessment Detector measures high-energy radiation NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP ChemCam spectra of Coronation Target: Coronaon (N165) Sol 13 Shots: 30

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS The Glenelg Region and Yellowknife Bay NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona Curiosity is currently exploring Yellowknife Bay, a basin within the Glenelg region NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Heading into Yellowknife Bay NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Postcards from Yellowknife Bay showing a diversity of rock types, fractures, and veins

NASA/JPL-Caltech ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/ LPGNantes/CNRS/LGLyon/Planet-Terre

ChemCam spectra from sol 125 “Crest” and 135 “Rapitan”

“Sheepbed” rocks contain 1 to 5-mm fractures filled with calcium sulfate minerals that precipitated from fluids at low to moderate temperatures NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“Sheepbed” rocks also contain many spherules suggesting that water percolated though pores NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS John Klein drill site showing fractured bedrock and ridge-forming veins NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Targets studied to prepare for drilling NASA/JPL-Caltech/ U. Guelph

APXS sees higher sulfur and calcium in vein-rich rock

Removing the dust results in slightly lower sulfur

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

APXS and the dust-removing brush NASA/JPL-Caltech/D. Bouic Arm deployed at John Klein NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/ LPGNantes/CNRS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Curiosity’s 1.6-cm drill bit, drill and test holes, and scoop full of acquired sample NASA/JPL-Caltech/ U. Guelph

NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/IRAP/CNES/ LPGNantes/IAS/CNRS/MSSS

“Wernecke” Sol 169

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Honeybee Robocs/LANL/CNES

ChemCam laser shots of brushed rock and drill tailings pile NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames The drill powder contains abundant phyllosilicates (clay minerals), indicating sustained interaction with water X-ray diffraction patterns from Rocknest (left) and John Klein (right) NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC

SAM analysis of the drilled rock sample reveals water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide released on heating. The release of water at high temperature is consistent with smectite clay minerals.

Major gases released from John Klein sample and analyzed by SAM An Ancient Habitable Environment at Yellowknife Bay

• The regional geology and fine-grained rock suggest that the John Klein site was at the end of an ancient river system or within an intermittently wet lake bed

• The mineralogy indicates sustained interaction with liquid water that was not too acidic or alkaline, and low salinity. Further, conditions were not strongly oxidizing

• Key chemical ingredients for life are present, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur

• The presence of minerals in various states or oxidation would provide a source of energy for primitive biology

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS