Expect the unexpected may soon become the unofficial motto of NASA's roving science lab on Mars. First, the rover landed right on an ancient riverbed, uncovering evidence of the ancient flowing water with the mission's own landing rocket blast. Then, the first rock inspected, Jake Matijevic, turned out to be unlike any Martian rock ever found by any of our several rovers, the origins of which could be associated with a wet, volcanic past on Mars. Now, in this video update released yesterday by NASA, the first scoops of Martian windblown sand at a place called Rocknest contain never before seen "bright grains".
As the NASA narrator says:
Scientists identified numerous bright grains in the soil. . . . These bright grains were later determined to be components of the Martian soil and therefore the sample was deemed to be suitable for delivery to the ChemMin instrument for analysis.
A few more thoughts and a transcript of the video lie out in the tall grass for anyone who is interested.
According to NBC, NASA scientists were so nonplussed about the bright grains that they didn't know what to even call them. They settled on a Yiddish word:
The bright bits in the sandy soil measure about a millimeter wide, as big as a medium-sized grain of sand. In close-up pictures taken by Curiosity's MAHLI imager, those bits were so unlike the typical reddish grains that scientists held up on scooping dirt into the rover's CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) analyzer until they could figure out what the schmutz was. (Grotzinger said that the science team adopted the Yiddish word for dirt when referring to anomalous bits of bright material on the Martian surface.)
An earlier diary in
the On Mars series discussed the ChemMin instrument that is now irradiating the sample containing the "bright grains". The process takes time. The instument is extremely sensitive and highly precise. Obtaining, recording, pre-processing, transmitting and analyzing the data takes time. If the results are novel or unexpected, it will take more time for the science team to decide what they think. Like any good mystery, we are in for a period of suspense.
For all of my Mars diaries and all things Mars on Daily Kos go to Kossacks on Mars.
Here is the video transcript.
Hello. My name is Betina Pavri, Payload Downlink Coordinator and this is your Curiosity Rover Update.
Curiosity continues scooping at Rocknest this week. The Mastcam and Navcam instruments provided images and video used to assess the success of the scooping and sample processing activities.
These images also provided confirmation that the sampling system was successfully cleaned after the process was competed.
Also this week, a soil sample was dropped off to the rover's observation tray for a first assessment by the science team. This sample was determined to be suitable for drop off to the ChemMin instrument. The ChemMin instrument uses X-rays in order to image the sample and determine what minerals make it up, This helps geologists understand how the rock formed and how it's related to other rocks we've studied so far on Mars.
Scientists identified numerous bright grains in the soil. Because of the small piece of plastic from the landing event that had been found earlier in the week, the team proceeded cautiously, dumping the second scoop collected and imaging the bright grains. These bright grains were later determined to be components of the Martian soil and therefore the sample was deemed to be suitable for delivery to the ChemMin insrument for analysis.
The science team requested Mast Cam and Nav Cam mosaics of the outcrops in the direction of Glenelg, to plan Curiosity's journey to its next science destination.
This has been your Curiosity Rover Update. Please checkback for future reports.