Mars rover Curiosity completed the main scientific mission

    Curiosity - year. I already wrote such a phrase, but today the Martian year has passed, which lasts a little less than two earth years. The rover’s clock counted 668 solos (Martian days), which means that you can celebrate the anniversary of the Martian epic in Gale’s crater.

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    Over the entire journey, more than 8 kilometers have been covered, but the rover has not reached the main goal of its journey - Mount Eolida (Sharpe), although it carefully walks towards it for more than a year. Therefore, his main studies and probable discoveries are yet to come.

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    Initially, the term of the main scientific mission was called one Martian year. That is, today Curiosity has achieved the minimum for which it was sent to Mars and now NASA can report that the work of the rover has been successfully completed. Of course, no one will turn it off, and he will continue research until his resource is fully developed, which can last for 10-15 earth years. Previously, for the previous generation Mars rovers, NASA called the term of the main scientific program 90 days, but Opportunity exceeded these plans by more than 40 times, we wish the same efficiency and Curiosity.

    On the anniversary, it would be nice to traditionally take stock of the work. But the journey to the mountain led to the fact that much less time was devoted to scientific research than in the first months after landing. Therefore, little new information has been added since the time when we did surveys on the anniversary of the landing or at the end of 2013 . Since then, the rover has drilled a new well, and is now on the road engaged in the analysis of collected samples.

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    So far we have only been told that a rock with a high content of feldspars has been drilled, which means the geological history of the Martian crust may be more complicated than previously imagined.

    Briefly recall for what it was all up to.
    After Spirit and Opportunity found obvious evidence of the warm and humid past of Mars, science asked a new question: were the conditions on Mars suitable for the origin and maintenance of life? To answer this, and a number of other questions, they put together a new powerful and heavy Curiosity rover. He gave an unexpectedly quick answer for everyone - only six months after the start of work: yes, there were times on Mars when the atmosphere was denser, rivers flowed on a planet that had not yet become Red, and the water there was suitable for drinking.

    Was there life on Mars? Not yet known. Curiosity can only detect traces of organic compounds in the soil. Unfortunately, during the landing, the SAM device was contaminated with an organic solvent, so now scientists cannot clearly say which organic matter was found on Mars, and which one they brought with them. It is hoped that subsequent studies will more accurately calibrate the device and speak more confidently about traces of organic compounds in Martian soil.

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    Along the way, Curiosity did a very useful job for future manned flights to Mars - measuredradiation in flight and on the surface. The results are encouraging: the background during the flight was about two times higher than on the International Space Station, and on the surface - like on the ISS. In other words, you can live and do not have to bury yourself in bunkers under the many-meter thick soil. It’s more difficult with a flight , but also real.

    In addition, the rover collected abundant information about the climate of Mars, about the isotopic composition of the atmosphere and minerals of the soil, conducted astronomical observations. But I tried to talk about it, as new data arrived.

    Many media have spoken about Curiosity's anniversary, so now I would like to draw attention to various curious little things that can be observed with Curiosity, and which, as a rule, do not fall from official press releases or publications of news agencies.

    Talk about dust. Perhaps this is the only object whose movement we can observe on Mars. Apart from the rovers themselves, of course.

    Over the year, the dust covered the body of the rover with a dense "fur coat".

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    Unlike Opportunity, which is regularly cleaned by local tornadoes, Curiosity sweeps stronger and stronger. As it turned out, more or less powerful tornadoes do not appear in Gale Crater, apparently the conditions are not the same. Small gusts of wind were recorded, but dust devil was never observed, as in Opportunity.

    Another interesting example of movement on Mars can be observed when vibration from the rover is transmitted over the ground. On the sandy slopes, micro landslides appear, which confirm that Mars is seismically a dead planet. If he had even shaken a little, that sand had slipped even earlier.

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    In fact, what the oncoming Martian dunes are made of is not sand familiar to us, but something between sand and dust. American geologists have the corresponding term "silt", which is different from sand and dust. Under certain conditions, this silt acquires properties comparable to a thick liquid. This became apparent when Curiosity started new drilling operations two months ago.

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    Curiosity drill is a hammer drill, not just a drill. The inclusion of a vibrator on the manipulator not only caused a landslide and a microearthquake, but also had a very beneficial effect on the degree of dustiness of the cameras. Particularly lucky was the MARDI camera, which was installed only for shooting the landing. It was not the only one to be covered by the dust cover when the jet engines landed in a puff of dust. As a result, MARDI produced frames of very mediocre quality.

    After two round holes were made in Mars, MARDI began to show images already better.

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    To celebrate, NASA shot a new video that shows the sweeping surface of Mars, under the wheels of Curiosity. While it is available to us only in previews.

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    Full recording will have to wait a few weeks or months.

    If we talk about the quality of shooting mast cameras, then dust also sets on their lenses, but slightly, and begins to affect the image only if Curiosity stays in one place for a long time. During movement, shaking effectively cleans the glass. A more significant effect on image quality is affected by dust, which constantly hangs in the atmosphere. Due to the opportunity to look at the mountains 30-50 kilometers from the rover, we can observe the transparency of the local "air". Once, in the Martian winter, the conditions were such that it was possible to consider incredibly small details on a ridge 25 kilometers from the rover.

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    I have never seen such quality of these slopes, and, apparently, we will not see another year - until next winter.

    Freshest recentThree hefty metal meteorites became the Curiosity find :



    I expected that they would be subjected to serious research, but, strangely enough, NASA limited itself to a cursory inspection from 10 meters, and then the rover moved on. It seems geologists are so attracted by Mount Sharpe that they do not want any delays.

    To the credit of the drivers of the rover, it is worth saying that now they have gained a good pace. A kilometer in two months is very cool. The truth is now lucky with a surface that allows you to drive without worrying about the condition of the wheels. The holes continue to grow, but rather slowly, compared to the previous pace.

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    Such a sandy beach will continue for about a kilometer, and then a new type of surface will begin, which is still unfamiliar, but most likely will be very hard. But the boring plains will come to an end, slopes and ravines will begin, and hence interesting finds at their bottom.

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