in this second episode of 10 years on
mars curiosity sees a mysterious light
on the horizon spots earth in the sky
and crosses dingo gap a perilous sand
dune
curiosity is now on route towards the
central peak of gale crater to make the
journey easier curiosity has the ability
to drive itself with no help from anyone
on earth
this enables faster progress which means
curiosity is already closing in on an
area dubbed darwin the light-toned
streaks in the lower left center of the
image mark the position of the outcrop
that scientists want to examine
curiosity takes another look at the
layering making up the base of mount
sharp from its new vantage point this
area looks particularly exciting and is
named parumph hills the team hopes to
explore this area soon
on sol 400 curiosity examines the darwin
outcrop with its mars hand lens imager
or mali for short this four image mosaic
shows a ridge formed when a crack in the
underlying sandstone which was filled
with a material that then eroded more
slowly than the rock itself
note the lincoln penny at the bottom
left molly's own unique calibration
target for scale
while studying this rock named ithaca
the rover's chemcam laser is fired for
the 100 000th time on the martian
surface the arrows point to the dark
spots left by ten different laser shots
analysis shows ithaca to be a typical
martian volcanic rock type
as curiosity reaches nearly three miles
of driving life on mars begins to take
its toll
further computer glitches are followed
by a loss of power which temporarily
strands the rover this is tracked down
to an intermittent short in the rtg
curiosity's nuclear power source
at the same time an even more serious
issue arises
a routine scan of the rover's wheels on
sol 469 shows unexpectedly heavy damage
according to jim erickson curiosity
project manager we always expected we
would get some holes in the wheels as we
drove it's just the magnitude of what
we're seeing that was the surprise
concerned the team modifies curiosity's
planned route trying to drive on
smoother sandier terrain the trip to
mount sharp will be longer but hopefully
safer for the rover
as part of the new route curiosity comes
across a target named harrison which
contains light-colored elongated
crystals most likely a mineral known as
feldspar
analysis using chemcam shows the darker
matrix material to be pyroxene a mineral
typically found in basaltic igneous
rocks
on sol 526 curiosity faces another
challenge the modified route to mount
sharp means crossing this sand dune
known as dingo gap it will open the way
to smoother terrain which should be
easier on the rover's battered wheels
but there's a danger the rover could
become permanently trapped like spirit
its predecessor on mars
while the engineers at nasa prepare to
cross dingo gap curiosity is stargazing
just after sunset the rover captures a
martian evening star
otherwise known as planet earth
look closely and it's possible to see
our moon too
on sol 535 curiosity begins to cross
dingo gap
as this view from the rear hazard
avoidance camera shows with 6x6 drive a
little off-roading proves no problem at
all for curiosity
curiosity looks back at its tracks
across the perilous gap
to give you an idea of scale the
distance between the parallel tracks is
about 9 feet or 2.7 meters
after crossing the gap curiosity makes
good progress and is aiming for an area
named kimberly
on the approach to kimberly curiosity
spots these sandstone beds tilted down
toward mount sharp from the rim of gale
crater
the team interprets these layers as
deposits from deltas flowing down from
the rim into a small lake that once
covered the center of the crater it's a
pattern that's repeated throughout the
area
on sol 589 curiosity captures something
that shocks scientists a glowing light
in the distance
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the bright light puzzles scientists
possible explanations could be a cosmic
ray hit on the camera or something as
simple as sunlight glinting off a rock
but unless martians wear tinfoil hats it
probably isn't our first sighting of
aliens the most likely explanation is a
cosmic ray hitting the camera cosmic
rays are high energy particles that fly
through space this is the most likely
explanation because another image was
taken with a different camera at the
exact same time which did not capture
the strange anomaly or in other words
wasn't hit by that same cosmic ray
even astronauts working in space have
reported seeing strange flashes of light
with their own eyes which are also
believed to be cosmic ray hits when a
cosmic ray passes through the retina it
causes the eyes rods and cones to fire
and the eye perceives a flash of light
that is really not there
thankfully here on earth we are
protected from cosmic rays by our
magnetosphere however mars has a much
weaker magnetic field
future martian settlers may just have to
accept and deal with strange
pseudo-lights caused by cosmic ray hits
with so much great science
investigations at kimberly continue for
some time
this image taken on psalm 590 shows the
same build-out of ancient sediment
towards the base of mount sharp with the
mountain itself towards the left of the
scene
also a small hill can be seen in the
mid-ground so clear are the different
layers of rock that the team dubs this
site mount remarkable
on sol 597 nasa's mars reconnaissance
orbiter is flying overhead and manages
to capture curiosity near the kimberley
site can you spot the rover
on sol 609 curiosity arrives at a rock
slab that scientists called winjana the
two foot wide rock looks like a perfect
target for curiosity's drill
as these before and after shots show an
area of the rock around six centimeters
across is scrubbed using the dust
removal tool
followed by test drilling to a depth of
around two centimeters and a full-sized
test hole
the series of dark dots which are
visible inside the hole were created by
curiosity's chemcam laser
the samples obtained are examined by
several of curiosity's onboard
scientific test instruments the results
are analyzed by researchers back on
earth and point to the likelihood that
flowing water was once prevalent in the
area
pleased with its work around kimberly
curiosity poses for a selfie
on sol 648 curiosity is looking at the
sun and manages to capture something
remarkable an object crossing its field
of view
this object is actually the planet
mercury and it's the first time a
planetary transit has been witnessed on
a planet other than earth
as this map shows by saw 705 the rover
is well on its way toward the pahrump
hills at the bottom left the new route
designed to make the journey easier on
curiosity's wheels will take the rover
through a valley aptly named hidden
valley however this new soft sanded
route doesn't come without problems
after driving only a short distance into
the valley the rover's wheels seem to be
slipping on the ground and the team
starts to worry that the rover may
become stuck rover planners decide it's
too risky to continue and so order
curiosity to leave the valley and head
back to more stable ground
in the next episode curiosity starts the
escape from hidden valley finally
reaches the pahrump hills and witnesses
a blue martian sunset
click here to watch
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