Curiosity has touched a rock with its robotic arm

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity reached out and touched a Martian rock with its huge robotic arm for the first time, then took off on its longest Red Planet drive to date.

Curiosity spent the past several days investigating a strange pyramid-shaped stone named "Jake Matijevic," testing out some of the gear at the end of its 7-foot-long (2.1 meters) arm. These tools include the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), which measures elemental composition, and the Mars Hand Lens Imager close-up camera, or MAHLI.

Using its robotic arm, NASA's rover Curiosity touched a Martian rock for the first time on the rover's 46th Martian day, or sol (September 22, 2012). Curiosity is assessing what chemical elements make up the rock “Jake Matijevic." After driving to get within arm’s reach of the rock, Curiosity put its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument in contact with the rock. The APXS is on a turret at the end of the rover’s 2.1 metre arm, and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is on the same turret. Both instruments were used on Jake Matijevic on Sol 47 (Sept. 23). The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument was also used on Jake Matijevic to determine its chemical composition. ChemCam shoots laser pulses at a target from the top of Curiosity’s mast. The final ChemCam laser testing on Jake Matijevic was on Sol 48 (September 24), finishing Curiosity’s work on the rock. Curiosity departed from Jake Matijevic the same day this work was finished, and drove 42 metres, the single biggest roll for the rover since it landed in Mars’ Gale Crater seven weeks ago.

This image was taken with the rover’s right Navigation Camera (Navcam) during the 46th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Sept. 22, 2012).

Close up of the rock Jake Matijevic, taken with MAHLI: here



Source frome JPL

I am not denying in any way that curiosity is on Mars, but i was wondering something.
Is there any way for amateurs to see it on Mars?
Is there any way other than what Nasa is providing us to confirm that it is on Mars?

Thank you.

reply to post by MarcellusWallace


Do you trust the ESA?

Mars Express picked up MSL signals about 10 minutes before it entered the atmosphere, travelling at 21 000 km/h, for its critical descent and landing phase.

www.esa.int...

Originally posted by MarcellusWallace
I am not denying in any way that curiosity is on Mars, but i was wondering something.
Is there any way for amateurs to see it on Mars?
Is there any way other than what Nasa is providing us to confirm that it is on Mars?

I would imagine it's possible. There are lots of amateur astronomers out there with some really amazing telescopes. Look into finding local observatories if there are any.Maybe go to any local colleges. Check out the science department... A lot of those places have access to some really awesome telescopes.... Plus they would have people that could offer a much better answer to your question than I could.

For what that's worth.

Originally posted by DirtyLiberalHippie

Originally posted by MarcellusWallace
I am not denying in any way that curiosity is on Mars, but i was wondering something.
Is there any way for amateurs to see it on Mars?
Is there any way other than what Nasa is providing us to confirm that it is on Mars?

I would imagine it's possible. There are lots of amateur astronomers out there with some really amazing telescopes. Look into finding local observatories if there are any.Maybe go to any local colleges. Check out the science department... A lot of those places have access to some really awesome telescopes.... Plus they would have people that could offer a much better answer to your question than I could.

For what that's worth.

Yes that's what I was getting at. Is there any telescopes available to amateurs powerful enough to detect it on Mars from earth.

NASA "scientists" must be beating their chests in excitement over a rock.

reply to post by MarcellusWallace

Yes that's what I was getting at. Is there any telescopes available to amateurs powerful enough to detect it on Mars from earth.

No, sorry. You'll just have to take the word of the Europeans, who have photographed it from orbit, and the Russians, who have some hardware on board.

reply to post by MarcellusWallace


Last I heard we couldn't see it in a Earth based telescope if it were on the Moon much less Mars.

Originally posted by DJW001
reply to post by MarcellusWallace

 

Yes that's what I was getting at. Is there any telescopes available to amateurs powerful enough to detect it on Mars from earth.

No, sorry. You'll just have to take the word of the Europeans, who have photographed it from orbit, and the Russians, who have some hardware on board.

Great, could you link these pictures please?

you can't see the moon landing area from earth so I'm guessing there is zero chance of seeing a rover on mars from here.

people believe in a god, but don't believe we put a rover on mars? (this is not a troll so please don't reply to that)

strange world we live in.

it is there and it's roving round like a proper rover

reply to post by MarcellusWallace

Great, could you link these pictures please?

Here is the ESA's blog:

blogs.esa.int...

Originally posted by MarcellusWallace
I am not denying in any way that curiosity is on Mars, but i was wondering something.
Is there any way for amateurs to see it on Mars?
Is there any way other than what Nasa is providing us to confirm that it is on Mars?

Thank you.

edit on 26-9-2012 by MarcellusWallace because: (no reason given)

edit on 26-9-2012 by MarcellusWallace because: (no reason given)

To see the rock?

To see the rover?

No. It simply is not possible with any optical technology known to man. Even Hubble can't focus on the moon close enough to see any detail at that level.

It's not just any rock, it's a pyramid!

reply to post by GIBBORIM


I'm sorry but after being shown by NASA, Malin, JPL the tubes, the biological sprayer in the act of spraying,
The Face, the gadgets by the tons. Hello!

It's like having baby food when I'm used to grown up food by the time I'm 10 years of age.
It just doesn't seem exciting to me. Sure as a ten year old you want to eat new things, no longer are you interested in Gerber's and being spoon fed

And most kids trusteed those who gave us the baby food (like mothers, caretakers, nannies etc), that they would give us a food that we would enjoy when we get to be older.

Then all of a sudden mom gives us this apple sauce as the main meal and the kid with a smirk on his face,
"what the heck is this", in disgust.

Mom says, "father and I were just testing you to see how irate you get cause your on candid camera

You just have to develop a sense of humor when you are dealing with pictures of mars from Malin - Msss.com etc. . Because it really seems insane to say the least.

*bonk*

"Poke it with a stick."

For some reason that sentence always makes me chuckle.

Originally posted by Phage
"Poke it with a stick."

For some reason that sentence always makes me chuckle.

You know Phage, that's not a bad idea.

Rather I don't know if Curiosity could do it with out damaging it's arm, but I think it would be really cool for them to tip the rock over. Let's see the soil under it that has been covered up for how long?

And the rock face itself that's been face down for so long.

reply to post by MarcellusWallace


Well, if a person had a big satelite dish in a tube and he aimed it towards Mars, he should be able to get video transmission from the rover although it would need to be unscrambled..

All I want to know is....when they hit it with the laser,did little Egyptians come running out???

Originally posted by Phage
"Poke it with a stick."

For some reason that sentence always makes me chuckle.

I guess if curiosity could find a stick in the first place its job would be pretty much done.