In this first episode of 10 years on Mars , Curiosity stumbles upon an ancient streambed,
takes some spooky images during the night, and finds bright particles on the Martian surface.
August 6th 2012. The Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter happens to be in the right place at the right time to capture
this incredible image of the Curiosity rover parachuting on to the surface of Mars.
After a nerve-racking but successful landing, Curiosity opens it s eyes. It will eventually
start to climb the mountain in the distance, which is informally known as mount sharp.
For now however, the rover will drive away from mount sharp,
towards an interesting region known as Glenelg. Just 13 Martian days into the mission, or Sol 13,
Curiosity examines a site that was blasted by the engines of it s descent stage. Nicknamed Goulburn
Scour , these sedimentary rocks are thought to have been laid down by running water in
the ancient past, and uncovered by the descent stage as it blasted away the surface dust.
On Sol 16, Curiosity takes a close look at the layers which form the base of mount sharp,
with scientists theorising that these layers could be another clue of a watery past.
On Sol 27, Curiosity comes across a site which again could be linked to running water.
This image shows what is known as a sedimentary conglomerate,
a geological formation that is created by streams or rivers here on Earth.
The engineers at NASA check the health of Curiosity s wheels.
They look to be holding up pretty well so far. On Sol 39, the rover comes across yet more
evidence of a Martian stream. This is a piece of exposed bedrock, made up of small
segments cemented together. This is likely evidence of ancient water due to the rounded
elements of the bedrock itself, as well as the round rocks and pebbles surrounding it.
It s possible these rounded rocks were transported and deposited here by running water.
If finding 3 sites likely formed by running water wasn t enough evidence, just look at how
they are arranged. The yellow arrows at each site depict the direction of the ancient stream.
While this map shows the route the rover has taken so far, Curiosity turns around to
once again take in the sight of the mighty mount sharp in this incredible mosaic.
Climbing the mountain will be hard, but worth it in the end.
Curiosity comes across an interesting pyramid shaped rock,
and decides it s a good time to test out it s on-board laser.
In this image, the dots are where Curiosity trained it s laser, and the results are
unlike anything yet seen on Mars. The rock has a mineral diversity down to the finest scales,
and is very similar to a rare but widespread rock type found on Earth
On the road to Glenelg, a site known as Rocknest is selected for the first
use of Curiosity s scoop. The patch of sand downhill from
the cluster of dark rocks should make for a great scoop sample.
At the site, the rover comes across an interesting rock. It s not clear what has
caused the thin cavities present in the rock. On Sol 61, Curiosity makes it s first scoop.
Darker coloured sand is exposed just beneath the surface.
The sample will now be shaken and put through a filter.
This series of images shows the shaking operation. This makes sure the sample
scoop is not overflowing with material and allows the scoop to be sealed shut.
This image shows the filter. After the shaking operation, any particles too big
to pass through this filter are transferred back to the scoop for a visual inspection.
Those larger particles can be seen here. This first sample will not be fully processed,
as it s presence in the scoop helps to further decontaminate all the surfaces coming into
direct contact with future samples. On Sol 65, the team at NASA spots an
interesting piece of debris on the Martian surface - just next to the rover.
This close up confirms it is likely to be from the spacecraft,
possibly as a result of the landing. It is likely a benign piece of plastic or shrink-tube left over
from a terminated piece of wire. As Curiosity takes it s 2nd scoop,
a bright particle can be seen in the sample hole. Given that spacecraft debris has been
identified in the area, the team at NASA orders the rover to also discard the 2nd sample.
If any of these bright particles are from the spacecraft and are subsequently fed into the
internal sampling unit, the rover could become contaminated with bacteria from Earth.
However, upon further inspection and analysis, more bright particles are spotted on the ground,
and the team now believes these are native to the Martian soil. It is likely these
bright particles are made up of Silica, or some other naturally occurring mineral.
With this knowledge, the rover goes ahead and takes it s 3rd scoop which is fully processed.
The results of the soil sample shows that about 2% of the material collected is made up of water. The
rover exposes the sample to heat; Carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sulfur compounds are released.
To celebrate, the rover takes a little break from sampling and captures this
stunning panorama of the Rocknest area. Curiosity will continue on to Glenelg.
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Their link is in the description. On Sol 120, the rover comes
across a site nicknamed Shaler . The Shaler outcrop is dramatically layered,
once again signalling the presence of water in the ancient past.
This part in particular, known as Sheepbed Locality , shows
well defined veins filled with a white-ish material, likely to be calcium sulfate.
The rover reaches a wider area known as Yellowknife Bay, and takes a look around.
In this annotated image, the white arrows represent mineral veins and
the black arrows represent mineral concretions.
Both veins and concretions are strong indicators of mineral precipitation from water.
A target is chosen for the first use of Curiosity s drill, a drilling site
known as John Klein. This flat, hard bedrock should provide an ideal testing ground.
As the engineers at NASA prepare for the first drill, Curiosity spots a
small broken rock, nicknamed Tintina . Curiosity deploys it s Mastcam to perform
a spectra analysis, and produces a mineral hydration map. The results show the inside of the
rock is much more hydrated than the outside. The team orders Curiosity to pull an all-nighter.
These are the first night-time images from the surface of Mars.
The team wants to see what the rocks look like under UV lighting, to see if
any fluorescent minerals are present. Unfortunately, this image, taken under UV
lighting, doesn t show much evidence for fluorescent minerals. If they were present,
we would see bright red, blue or orange areas. On Sol 174, Curiosity breaks a rock in half by
driving over it. A happy accident, Curiosity s clumsiness reveals a very bright substance
within the rock. This is probably caused by the presence of Silica, commonly found on Mars.
Curiosity takes a selfie before it s big drill test at the John Klein site.
The drilling goes ahead and is a great success.
The drill sample is transferred to the scoop, which will feed the sample
into Curiosity s internal sampling system.
On Sol 200, Curiosity stops responding to commands. Engineers fear Curiosity is stuck
in a boot loop , which will cause the rover to drain battery and be unable to function.
Luckily, Curiosity has 2 computers on board for such a problem,
side A and side B, or Pilot and co-pilot. The rover is programmed to switch to the co-pilot
automatically if the pilot malfunctions. However, the pilot has other plans,
and does not cede control to the co-pilot. The engineers are worried that the pilot
could shut off the radio at any moment, and they would never hear from the rover again.
They decide to take a risky move, and shut down the pilot, hoping that the co-pilot will then
step in and take over. After shutting down the pilot,
the team waits to hear a signal from the co-pilot, which should happen right away.
1 minute passes no signal. 4 minutes pass still no signal.
Then, finally, the signal comes in, and it s clear that the co-pilot is now in-charge.
Curiosity can breathe a sigh of relief, and continue with operations. Now that the rover
has switched over to the B side, the team must check all the systems once again.
Now everything is working as intended, Curiosity takes a long drive.
This image, taken on Sol 343, shows the road before Curiosity.
The 2 grey rocks in the centre are nicknamed Twin Cairns.
In the next episode, Curiosity sees a mysterious light on the horizon,
spots Earth in the sky and begins it s journey towards the base of mount sharp.
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