PASADENA, Calif. -- NASAs Spirit rover has turned its attention to a football-size rock nicknamed Adirondack.
Swinging into action is Spirits robot arm, tipped with a set of instruments built for "hard labor" -- all designed to study the rock up-close and even chip away at Adirondack.
The robot arms set of instruments, a microscope and two other devices -- a Mssbauer spectrometer and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer -- are to be used to characterize the object.
Early speculation is that the rock is volcanic in nature -- a basalt.
Adirondack was picked as it has a flat, less-dusty surface contrasted to other rocks. Thats perfect for trying out the rover's science gear, including a Rock Abrasion Tool.
"Its an approachable rock face," said Dave Des Marais, a rover science-team member working here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and based at NASAs Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California.
Interior view
Spirits front wheels are now about one foot (30 centimeters) from Adirondack.
After a first assessment with microscope and the two spectrometers, Adirondack will feel the grind from the Rock Abrasion Tool, or RAT for short. After the RAT attack, the same three instruments are to survey the rock again.
The RAT is a powerful grinder, able to create a hole about 2 inches (45 millimeters) in diameter and 0.2 inches (5 millimeters) deep into a rock on the Martian surface.
Using the RAT, a rocks surface is scraped offering a view of the interior so scientists can glean evidence about environmental conditions when the rock first formed.
"We might begin to see the signature of those processes," Des Marais told SPACE.com . He said that Adirondack is some 14 inches wide by 8 inches high, although there is discussion that more of the rock may be hiding subsurface.
Shakeout cruise
The rock is also fractured. That crack extends down Adirondacks face and may also veer to the left, a possibility that suggests "spallation", Des Marais said. The spallation process is a way in which rocks break apart and disintegrate.
And that crack may prove useful to RAT operators.
By planting one of two contact sensors on the RAT into that crevice, the device could be held more secure while grinding is underway.
The RAT will work at a modest pace, digging into Adirondack very slightly using about two pounds (10 Newtons) of force.
"This is part of the shakeout cruise herewe want to go slow," De Marais said.
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