Space.comTopic:
Latest News About Mars Science Laboratory, NASA's Newest Mars Rover
The Mars rover Curiosity, also known as the Science Laboratory, will launch in late 2011 and land on the Red Planet in August 2012.
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The news is apparently big, but we won't hear any details for several weeks.
Since arriving on the Red Planet in August, Curiosity's been analyzing its environment with an array of sensors. Pressure readings indicate the presence of dust devils, but the twisters likely haven't been dusty enough to photograph yet.
Initial findings suggest levels comparable to those experienced on the International Space Station.
Curiosity's SAM instrument ingested its first pinch of dirt on Nov. 9.
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is a suite of three instruments that is studying the Martian atmosphere. Carbon Dioxide has been measured in abundance and the rover is actively searching for methane, seen from Earth and Space, telescopically.
After operating on Mars time for three months, Curiosity's mission controllers are finally working more regular hours.
The gas is commonly produced by life here on Earth.
The 1-ton robot will keep sniffing the Red Planet's air.
Like a tourist, the robot stretched out its arm to capture itself and its surroundings.
The CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) instrument aboard the Mars Science Laboratory has delivered its first results on the make up of the Martian soil it sampled.
The press conference will provide an update of Curiosity's studies of the Martian atmosphere.
Curiosity has completed the first in-depth soil analysis ever performed on another planet.
The ChemCam aboard the rover has already done about 10,000 shots with its laser to study their chemical composition of its targets. Most recently, a small cluster of rocks (that resembles famous rock structure in England) has been fired upon 9 times.
The rover's observations could help determine if Martian methane is biological in origin.
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is eating Mars soil to determine what it's made of.
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has excavated odd shiny particles on Mars, but they appear natural, NASA says.
A rock being examined by Curiosity is different from previously studied Mars rocks.
The rover had taken a few days to study a strange bright scrap on the ground nearby.
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