The rover will soon begin its journey on the surface of Mars

Aug 18, 2012 08:46 GMT  ·  By
Image showing the location of Glenelg, Curiosity's first science target on the surface of Mars
   Image showing the location of Glenelg, Curiosity's first science target on the surface of Mars

During a teleconference held on August 17, experts in charge of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity announced the robot's first target for exploration, as well as when the advanced machine would use its primary laser for the first time.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech) expert and Curiosity principal investigator, John Grotzinger, says that the target area is called Glenelg. It represents a naturally occurring intersection between three different types of terrain, and may therefore help reveal more about their nature.

The rover landed on the surface of the Red Planet on August 6 (GMT), and has been undergoing testing, commissioning and software update procedures ever since. Experts estimate that it will take another two weeks to fully activate the 1-ton, Mini Cooper-sized rover.

Curiosity touched the Martian surface inside Gale Crater, relatively closer to the landscape feature's central mound, called Mount Sharp. This is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) tall, and represents the main point of interest for the rover's two-year primary mission.

“With such a great landing spot in Gale Crater, we literally had every degree of the compass to choose from for our first drive,” Grotzinger told colleagues and the media during the teleconference yesterday.

“We had a bunch of strong contenders. It is the kind of dilemma planetary scientists dream of, but you can only go one place for the first drilling for a rock sample on Mars. That first drilling will be a huge moment in the history of Mars exploration,” he explained.

According to the expert, Glenelg is located about 400 meters (1,300 feet) away from Curiosity's current position, bearing east-southeast. But before the rover starts its drive, the team managing the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument plans to put it through its paces.

ChemCam is basically a rock-zapping laser mounted on Curiosity's mast. Scientists have already selected Rock N165 as a target for the instrument. The first firing of the laser will occur tonight, August 18, Grotzinger said.

“Rock N165 looks like your typical Mars rock, about three inches wide. It's about 10 feet away. We are going to hit it with 14 millijoules of energy 30 times in 10 seconds. It is not only going to be an excellent test of our system, it should be pretty cool too.” added Roger Wiens.

The expert, who is based at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in New Mexico, is the principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument.

Over the next few days, Curiosity will be exercising all of its four steerable wheels. It will then take a short drive forward (about 10 feet, or 3 meters) and another one backwards. Experts will then take it out for its first real drive.