Nasa's Curiosity rover 'sniffs' Martian air

The robot sucked the air into its big Sample Analysis at Mars (Sam) instrument to reveal the concentration of different gases.

It is the first time that the chemistry of the atmosphere has been tested from the surface of the planet since the Viking landers in the 1970s.

The Sam analysis is ongoing but no major surprises are expected at this stage - carbon dioxide will dominate.

CO2 is the chief component of the Martian air, as the Viking probes found. Of keener interest will be whether a signal for methane has been detected by Curiosity.

The gas has recently been observed by satellite and by Earth telescopes, and its presence on the Red Planet is intriguing.

www.bbc.co.uk...

Here are some nice photo's.............enjoy






Anybody notice the sky colour on this photo?

Hmmmm seems kind if a waste of money to reaffirm what gases are on mars that they already know..... They really could of used this money and space on the rover for a much better application ... Or nasa is full of it and really had no clue as to what the air composed of and was lying the whole time... disappointing

Maybe they could of used that money to research and develop a means for getting themselves into space without having to hitch hike a ride from the Russians ...

reply to post by freedomSlave


I would imagine their goal is to test it often throughout the mission timeline in order to study the changes the atmosphere undergoes during a Martian year. There is much that can be learned by doing so.

reply to post by usmc0311


Yes, true and also different experiences it encounters...volcano, cracks in earth......possible plant/microbial life?

Originally posted by freedomSlave
Hmmmm seems kind if a waste of money to reaffirm what gases are on mars that they already know..... They really could of used this money and space on the rover for a much better application ... Or nasa is full of it and really had no clue as to what the air composed of and was lying the whole time... disappointing

Maybe they could of used that money to research and develop a means for getting themselves into space without having to hitch hike a ride from the Russians ...

Wasting money would be to not run as many different tests as possible. Wasting money would be saturating the entire data link with pretty pictures instead of scientific data. Just less fun to look at!!

reply to post by freedomSlave


It's never a waste of money to retest something, especially when it's only been done once or twice over 30 years ago. And it does more than just sample the air.

SAM

I doubt the money spent on it would have helped with R&D towards a new spaceship. NASA already has funds directed at their own spacecraft currently in development, plus awarding money towards several other private ones.

Originally posted by CaptainBeno
Anybody notice the sky colour on this photo?

Obviously, yes, why do you ask?

reply to post by ArMaP


Sorry, had weekend off ATS!

Question/Answer: Because it seems "whiter" than usual, most photos have been shown with a more "red" colored sky? Perhaps it's just me?

reply to post by CaptainBeno


Some had a redder sky, some a whiter sky. Most Curiosity photos have a whitish orange sky.