Oct 4 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-348 NASA MARS CURIOSITY ROVER PREPARES TO STUDY MARTIAN SOIL

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Curiosity rover is in a position on Mars where scientists and engineers can begin preparing the rover to take its first scoop of soil for analysis. Curiosity is the centerpiece of the two-year Mars Science Laboratory mission. The rover's ability to put soil samples into analytical instruments is central to assessing whether its present location on Mars, called Gale Crater, ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Mineral analysis can reveal past environmental conditions. Chemical analysis can check for ingredients necessary for life. "We now have reached an important phase that will get the first solid samples into the analytical instruments in about two weeks," said Mission Manager Michael Watkins of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "Curiosity has been so well-behaved that we have made great progress during the first two months of the mission." The rover's preparatory operations will involve testing its robotic scooping capabilities to collect and process soil samples. Later, it also will use a hammering drill to collect powdered samples from rocks. To begin preparations for a first scoop, the rover used one of its wheels Wednesday to scuff the soil to expose fresh material. Next, the rover twice will scoop up some soil, shake it thoroughly inside the sample-processing chambers to scrub the internal surfaces, then discard the sample. Curiosity will scoop and shake a third measure of soil and place it in an observation tray for inspection by cameras mounted on the rover's mast. A portion of the third sample will be delivered to the mineral-identifying chemistry and mineralogy (CheMin) instrument inside the rover. From a fourth scoopful, samples will be delivered to both CheMin and to the sample analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, which identifies chemical ingredients. "We're going to take a close look at the particle size distribution in the soil here to be sure it's what we want," said Daniel Limonadi of JPL, lead systems engineer for Curiosity's surface sampling and science system. "We are being very careful with this first time using the scoop on Mars." The rinse-and-discard cycles serve a quality-assurance purpose similar to a common practice in geochemical laboratory analysis on Earth. "It is standard to run a split of your sample through first and dump it out, to clean out any residue from a previous sample," said JPL's Joel Hurowitz, a sampling system scientist on the Curiosity team. "We want to be sure the first sample we analyze is unambiguously Martian, so we take these steps to remove any residual material from Earth that might be on the walls of our sample handling system." Rocknest is the name of the area of soil Curiosity will test and analyze. The rover pulled up to the windblown, sandy and dusty location Oct. 2. The Rocknest patch is about 8 feet by 16 feet (2.5 meters by 5 meters). The area provides plenty of area for scooping several times. Diverse rocks nearby provide targets for investigation with the instruments on Curiosity's mast during the weeks the rover is stationed at Rocknest for this first scooping campaign. Curiosity's motorized, clamshell-shaped scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide, 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) long, and can sample to a depth of about 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters). It is part of the collection and handling Martian rock analysis (CHIMRA) device on a turret of tools at the end of the rover's arm. CHIMRA also includes a series of chambers and labyrinths for sorting, sieving and portioning samples collected by the scoop or by the arm's percussive drill. Following the work at Rocknest, the rover team plans to drive Curiosity about 100 yards (about 100 meters) eastward into the Glenelg area and select a rock as the first target for use of its drill. JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and built Curiosity.

RELEASE: 12-351 NASA'S TECHEDSAT LAUNCHES FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

WASHINGTON -- NASA engineers, student interns and amateur radio enthusiasts around the world are listening for signals from a small, cube-shaped satellite launched into orbit from the International Space Station Thursday. The satellite, dubbed "TechEdSat," was released at 11:44 a.m. EDT from the new Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer aboard the space station. TechEdSat measures about 4 inches (10 centimeters) on a side and carries a ham radio transmitter. It was developed by a group of student interns from San Jose State University (SJSU) in California with mentoring and support from staff at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. TechEdSat arrived at the space station aboard the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle July 21 and the station's Expedition 33 crew processed it for launch. "TechEdSat will evaluate plug-and-play technologies, like avionics designed by commercial providers, and will allow a group of very talented aerospace engineering students from San Jose State University to experience a spaceflight project from formulation through decommission of a small spacecraft," said Ames Director S. Pete Worden. TechEdSat's mission showcases collaboration among NASA, academia and industry to set the standard for future endeavors with small satellites known as Cubesats. TechEdSat is funded by Ames and NASA's Space Technology Program. The total cost was less than $30,000 because engineers used only commercial off-the-shelf hardware and simplified the design and mission objectives.

RELEASE: 12-352 NASA RELEASES INTERACTIVE SPACE COMMUNICATIONS MOBILE GAME APP

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- Just in time for World Space Week, NASA has RELEASEd a new mobile application that challenges gamers to take on the role of a space communications network manager and puts them in charge of building a communications network to support scientific missions. The educational application, "Space Communications and Navigation: NetworKing," was developed at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., for the iPad and iPhone. NetworKing provides an interactive, 3-D experience with an insider's perspective into how mission controllers and scientists communicate with spacecraft and satellites using the space, deep space and near Earth networks. "This game introduces the complex world of space communications to gamers," said Barbara Adde, policy and strategic communications director for the Space Communications and Navigation Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It gives players the opportunity to enjoy a challenging game while absorbing the basic concepts of space communications. The game provides an engaging way to increase interest in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and opens minds to potential careers in these fields." NetworKing allows players to build increasingly large and complex communication networks to support client satellites conducting scientific missions. Players who upgrade their communication networks can acquire more complex clients, such as the International Space Station and NASA's Hubble and Kepler space telescopes. By providing insight into the complex world of communications between astronauts, mission controllers, scientists and satellites in real mission scenarios, the game is not only challenging, but also entertaining. In addition to the mobile application, NetworKing also is available free on the NASA 3-D Resources website. Players can access the game on their web browsers or it can be downloaded and run on PC or Macintosh operating systems.