Starship Asterisk*

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While scooping its first samples of Martian soil, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured the image right, which shows what seems to be a small, seemingly metallic sliver or chip of… something… resting on the ground. Is it a piece of the rover? Or some other discarded fleck of the MSL descent mechanisms? Or perhaps an exotic Martian pebble of some sort? Nobody knows for sure yet, but needless to say the soil samples have taken a back seat to this new finding for the time being.

See a ChemCam image of the object below.

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The ChemCam image, although monochrome, reveals some interesting and curiously organic-looking edges on the object… although it could be a bit of something that came loose from the rover itself. Perhaps a bit of plastic wrap or tape from a cable? Or a flake of metal from the back shell?

Or, as MSNBC’s Alan Boyle jokingly (?) suggested, another piece of “Martian macaroni”?

Stay tuned for more info on this intriguing news as it’s available!

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


P.S. Of course, the now-famous “Sarcastic Rover” had something to say about it on Twitter:

dougettinger wrote:Why does NASA not give as much attention to looking for larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface with their orbiting cameras ?

rstevenson wrote:

dougettinger wrote:Why does NASA not give as much attention to looking for larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface with their orbiting cameras ?

NASA doesn't look for that because they're publically funded and want to keep their jobs.

Can't you just imagine the right-wing science denier nuts getting hold of a NASA funding request that mentions "larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface"? NASA would find itself moth-balled within weeks.

Private citizens are, of course, free to pursue such searches themselves using the publically available images acquired by the many orbiting and ground-crawling robots sent to Mars. If you Google for it you can find lots of sites catering to such people.

Rob

rstevenson wrote:

dougettinger wrote:Why does NASA not give as much attention to looking for larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface with their orbiting cameras ?

NASA doesn't look for that because they're publically funded and want to keep their jobs.

Can't you just imagine the right-wing science denier nuts getting hold of a NASA funding request that mentions "larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface"? NASA would find itself moth-balled within weeks.

Private citizens are, of course, free to pursue such searches themselves using the publically available images acquired by the many orbiting and ground-crawling robots sent to Mars. If you Google for it you can find lots of sites catering to such people.

Rob

dougettinger wrote:
I have seen some very credible U-tube presentations regarding Martian surface probe images by retired and/or fired NASA scientists and wondered where NASA mainstream stands. The public is to be feared, perhaps even more than asteroid attacks. I sit in my den with a sea of Neantherthals all around me. It is very scary.

geckzilla wrote:We're still looking for signs of any life ever happening on Mars at all... and I'd start wondering about NASA if its funding requests were full of quests to identify alien monuments on Mars, myself. What have you guys been doing, watching Ancient Aliens on TV?

neufer wrote:

dougettinger wrote:
I have seen some very credible U-tube presentations regarding Martian surface probe images by retired and/or fired NASA scientists and wondered where NASA mainstream stands. The public is to be feared, perhaps even more than asteroid attacks. I sit in my den with a sea of Neantherthals all around me. It is very scary.

I have seen some very credible supermarket checkout presentations regarding Martian surface probe images.

Those, too, are very scary:

dougettinger wrote: Hello Geckzilla,

No, I have not been watching Ancient Aliens on TV. What channel is it on? It sounds like you have been watching the program and you are forgiven. I want to become your friend. Have ever seen early Greek construction next to Roman or Inca construction next to Spanish in person ? These real earthly scenes will give you a chill. It is definitely scary.

Hoping you are not Reptilian,

BMAONE23 wrote:

rstevenson wrote:

dougettinger wrote:Why does NASA not give as much attention to looking for larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface with their orbiting cameras ?

NASA doesn't look for that because they're publically funded and want to keep their jobs.

Can't you just imagine the right-wing science denier nuts getting hold of a NASA funding request that mentions "larger intelligent artifacts and massive infrastructures on the Martian surface"? NASA would find itself moth-balled within weeks.

Private citizens are, of course, free to pursue such searches themselves using the publically available images acquired by the many orbiting and ground-crawling robots sent to Mars. If you Google for it you can find lots of sites catering to such people.

Rob

I would imagine that if there were to be "Larger Intelligent Artifacts" or "Massive Infrastructures on the Martian surface" HIRISE will encounter them. Seeing that both terms imply "larger than a Volkswagen" sizes and that the HIRISE instrument can image the rovers, and nothing has been imaged to date, there is likely nothing there of this nature to be imaged.

geckzilla wrote:

dougettinger wrote: Hello Geckzilla,

No, I have not been watching Ancient Aliens on TV. What channel is it on? It sounds like you have been watching the program and you are forgiven. I want to become your friend. Have ever seen early Greek construction next to Roman or Inca construction next to Spanish in person ? These real earthly scenes will give you a chill. It is definitely scary.

Hoping you are not Reptilian,

You can be my friend if you stop talking like a... well, that word breaks the forum rules. Let's just say a bag with a big D label on it.

http://www.universetoday.com/97798/shiny-object-on-mars-update-likely-benign-plastic/#more-97798 wrote:
Shiny Object on Mars Update: Likely ‘Benign’ Plastic
by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today, October 9, 2012

<<Lost earring? Cigarette butt? Those were just a couple of ideas tossed around loosely by the public about what this unusual object could be, found laying near the Mars Curiosity rover. The rover team is still looking closely at the shiny object, seen in images of the sandy regolith near the rover, and they issued a report today saying their initial assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, and not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, “likely benign,” they said, but it has not been definitively identified.

A loose piece of plastic or insulating tape may have jarred free during the rover’s shaking of the sample of Martian regolith it recently scooped up.

The team will proceed cautiously and will spend another day investigating new images before deciding whether to resume processing of the sample in the scoop. Plans include imaging of surroundings with the Mastcam, and perhaps looking at the rover itself, too, for any chips or loose parts.>>

dougettinger wrote:
Neufer, I just viewed the "Graduate" last evening. You are truly amazing about plugging in quotations at just the right time. How in the world do you store and retrieve all this junk trivia? What is your secret?

• My mind is a stock pile of junk trivia.

neufer wrote:

dougettinger wrote:
Neufer, I just viewed the "Graduate" last evening. You are truly amazing about plugging in quotations at just the right time. How in the world do you store and retrieve all this junk trivia? What is your secret?

• My mind is a stock pile of junk trivia.

[url=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16226][b][i]First Scoop by Curiosity[/i][/b][/url] - [i]Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS[/i]

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The team operating Curiosity decided on Oct. 9, 2012, to proceed with using the rover's first scoop of Martian material. Plans for Sol 64 (Oct. 10) call for shifting the scoopful of sand and dust into the mechanism for sieving and portioning samples, and vibrating it vigorously to clean internal surfaces of the mechanism. This first scooped sample, and the second one, will be discarded after use, since they are only being used for the cleaning process. Subsequent samples scooped from the same "Rocknest" area will be delivered to analytical instruments.

Investigation of a small, bright object thought to have come from the rover may resume between the first and second scoop. Over the past two sols, with rover arm activities on hold, the team has assessed the object as likely to be some type of plastic wrapper material, such as a tube used around a wire, possibly having fallen onto the rover from the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft's descent stage during the landing in August.

Sol 63 activities included extended weather measurements by the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station, or REMS. The Sol 63 planning also called for panoramic imaging by the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, in the early morning light of Sol 64, before uplink of Sol 64 commands.

[url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16192][b][i]Target: Jake Matijevic Rock[/i][/b][/url] - [i]Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS[/i]

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[url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA16193][b][i]Cross-Section Through a Mars Ripple[/i][/b][/url] - [i]Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS[/i]

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he first Martian rock NASA's Curiosity rover has reached out to touch presents a more varied composition than expected from previous missions. The rock also resembles some unusual rocks from Earth's interior.

The rover team used two instruments on Curiosity to study the chemical makeup of the football-size rock called "Jake Matijevic." The results support some surprising recent measurements and provide an example of why identifying rocks' composition is such a major emphasis of the mission. Rock compositions tell stories about unseen environments and planetary processes.

"This rock is a close match in chemical composition to an unusual but well-known type of igneous rock found in many volcanic provinces on Earth," said Edward Stolper of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., who is a Curiosity co-investigator. "With only one Martian rock of this type, it is difficult to know whether the same processes were involved, but it is a reasonable place to start thinking about its origin." On Earth, rocks with composition like the Jake rock typically come from processes in the planet's mantle beneath the crust, from crystallization of relatively water-rich magma at elevated pressure.

Jake was the first rock analyzed by the rover's arm-mounted Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument and about the thirtieth rock examined by the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. Two penny-size spots on Jake were analyzed Sept. 22 by the rover's improved and faster version of earlier APXS devices on all previous Mars rovers, which have examined hundreds of rocks. That information has provided scientists a library of comparisons for what Curiosity sees.

"Jake is kind of an odd Martian rock," said APXS Principal Investigator Ralf Gellert of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. "It's high in elements consistent with the mineral feldspar, and low in magnesium and iron."

ChemCam found unique compositions at each of 14 target points on the rock, hitting different mineral grains within it. "ChemCam had been seeing compositions suggestive of feldspar since August, and we're getting closer to confirming that now with APXS data, although there are additional tests to be done," said ChemCam Principal Investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.

Examination of Jake included the first comparison on Mars between APXS results and results from checking the same rock with ChemCam, which shoots laser pulses from the top of the rover's mast.

The wealth of information from the two instruments checking chemical elements in the same rock is just a preview. Curiosity also carries analytical laboratories inside the rover to provide other composition information about powder samples from rocks and soil. The mission is progressing toward getting the first soil sample into those analytical instruments during a "sol" or Martian day.

"Yestersol, we used Curiosity's first perfectly scooped sample for cleaning the interior surfaces of our 150-micron sample-processing chambers. It's our version of a Martian carwash," said Chris Roumeliotis, lead turret rover planner at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

Before proceeding, the team carefully studied the material for scooping at a sandy patch called "Rocknest," where Curiosity is spending about three weeks.

"That first sample was perfect, just the right particle-size distribution," said JPL's Luther Beegle, Curiosity sampling-system scientist. "We had a lot of steps to be sure it was safe to go through with the scooping and cleaning."

Following the work at Rocknest, the rover team plans to drive Curiosity about 100 yards eastward and select a rock in that area as the first target for using the drill.

bystander wrote: Curiosity Finds…SOMETHING…on Martian Surface
Universe Today | Jason Major | 2012 Oct 09

[url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16229.html][b][i]Bright Particle of Martian Origin in Scoop Hole[/i][/b][/url] [i](Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)[/i]

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Commands will be sent to Curiosity today instructing the rover to collect a third scoop of soil from the "Rocknest" site of windblown Martian sand and dust. Pending evaluation of this Sol 69 (Oct. 15, 2012) scooping, a sample from the scoopful is planned as the first sample for delivery -- later this week -- to one of the rover's internal analytical instruments, the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument. A later scoopful will become the first solid sample for delivery to the rover's other internal analytical instrument, the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

The rover's second scoopful, collected on Sol 66 (Oct. 12), was intentionally discarded on Sol 67 due to concern about particles of bright material seen in the hole dug by the scooping. Other small pieces of bright material in the Rocknest area have been assessed as debris from the spacecraft. The science team did not want to put spacecraft material into the rover's sample-processing mechanisms. Confidence for going ahead with the third scooping was based on new assessment that other bright particles in the area are native Martian material. One factor in that consideration is seeing some bright particles embedded in clods of Martian soil. Further investigations of the bright particles are planned, including some imaging in the Sol 69 plan.

Sol 69, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, will end at 5:01 a.m. Oct. 16, PDT (8:01 a.m., EDT).

[url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16231.html][b][i]Curiosity's First Three Bites Into Martian Ground[/i][/b][/url] [i](Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)[/i]

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has ingested its first solid sample into an analytical instrument inside the rover, a capability at the core of the two-year mission.

The rover's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument is analyzing this sample to determine what minerals it contains.

"We are crossing a significant threshold for this mission by using CheMin on its first sample," said Curiosity's project scientist, John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "This instrument gives us a more definitive mineral-identifying method than ever before used on Mars: X-ray diffraction. Confidently identifying minerals is important because minerals record the environmental conditions under which they form."

The sample is a sieved portion -- about as much material as in a baby aspirin -- from the third scoop collected by Curiosity as a windblown patch of dusty sand called "Rocknest." The rover's robotic arm delivered the sample to CheMin's opened inlet funnel on the rover's deck on Oct. 17.

The previous day, the rover shook the scooped material inside sample-processing chambers to scrub internal surfaces of any residue carried from Earth. One earlier scoopful was also used for cleaning. Additional repetitions of this cleaning method will be used before delivery of a future sample to the rover's other internal analytic instrument, the Sample Analysis at Mars investigation, which studies samples' chemistry.

Various small bits of light-toned material on the ground at Rocknest have affected the rover's activities in the past several days. One piece about half an inch (1.3 centimeters) long was noticed on Oct. 7. The rover team postponed use of the robotic arm for two days while investigating this object, and assessed it to be debris from the spacecraft.

Images taken after Curiosity collected its second scoop of Rocknest material on Oct. 12 showed smaller bits of light-toned material in the hole dug by the scooping action. This led to discarding that scoopful rather than using it to scrub the processing mechanisms. Scientists assess these smaller, bright particles to be native Martian material, not from the spacecraft.

"We plan to learn more both about the spacecraft material and about the smaller, bright particles," said Curiosity Project Manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. "We will finish determining whether the spacecraft material warrants concern during future operations. The native Mars particles become fodder for the mission's scientific studies."