Mars Rover Curiosity Arm Tests Nearly Complete

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 PHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster / D.C. Agle 818-354-5011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov / agle@jpl.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington
dwane.c.brown@nasa.gov

News release: 2012-288 September 12, 2012

Mars Rover Curiosity Arm Tests Nearly Complete

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2012-288&cid=release_2012-288

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Curiosity team has almost finished robotic arm tests in
preparation for the rover to touch and examine its first Martian rock.

Tests with the 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm have allowed the mission team to gain confidence in the
arm's precise maneuvering in Martian temperature and gravity conditions. During these
activities, Curiosity has remained at a site it reached by its most recent drive on Sept. 5. The
team will resume driving the rover this week and use its cameras to seek the first rock to touch
with instruments on the arm.

"We're about to drive some more and try to find the right rock to begin doing contact science
with the arm," said Jennifer Trosper, Curiosity mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Two science instruments -- a camera called Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) that can take
close-up, color images and a tool called Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) that
determines the elemental composition of a target rock -- have passed preparatory tests at the
rover's current location. The instruments are mounted on a turret at the end of the arm and can be
placed in contact with target rocks.

Curiosity's Canadian-made APXS had taken atmospheric readings earlier, but its first use on a
solid target on Mars was this week on a calibration target brought from Earth. X-ray detectors
work best cold, but even the daytime APXS tests produced clean data for identifying elements in
the target.

"The spectrum peaks are so narrow, we're getting excellent resolution, just as good as we saw in
tests on Earth under ideal conditions," said APXS principal investigator Ralf Gellert of the
University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada. "The good news is that we can now make high-
resolution measurements even at high noon to support quick decisions about whether a sample is
worthwhile for further investigations."

The adjustable-focus MAHLI camera this week has produced sharp images of objects near and
far.

"Honestly, seeing those images with Curiosity's wheels in the foreground and Mount Sharp in
the background simply makes me cry," said MAHLI principal investigator Ken Edgett of Malin
Space Science Systems in San Diego. "I know we're just getting started, but it's already been an
incredible journey."

MAHLI is also aiding evaluation of the arm's ability to position its tools and instruments.
Curiosity moved the arm to predetermined "teach points" on Sept. 11, including points above
each of three inlet ports where it will later drop samples of soil and powdered rock into analytical
instruments inside the rover. Images from the MAHLI camera confirmed the placements. Photos
taken before and after opening the inlet cover for the chemistry and mineralogy (CheMin)
analytical instrument also confirmed good operation of the cover.

"Seeing that inlet cover open heightens our anticipation of getting the first solid sample into
CheMin in the coming weeks," said CheMin principal investigator David Blake of NASA's
Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

A test last week that checked X-rays passing through an empty sample cell in CheMin worked
well. It confirmed the instrument beneath the inlet opening is ready to start analyzing soil and
rock samples.

Curiosity is five weeks into a 2-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science instruments to
assess whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental
conditions favorable for microbial life.

For more about Curiosity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl . You
can follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter at: http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity and
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity .

-end-


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