09.25.2012

curiosity and the martian rock

Mars rover Curiosity lasers a rock named Jake.

The Curiosity rover made its first contact with Martian rock this past weekend. It shot lasers at a rock named “Jake Matijevic” in order to analyze its chemical composition. This is Curiosity’s first scientific experiment. Results pending… From nasa.gov:

After a short drive the preceding day to get within arm’s reach of the football-size rock, Curiosity put its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument in contact with the rock during the rover’s 46th Martian day, or sol. The APXS is on a turret at the end of the rover’s 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), on the same turret, was used for close-up inspection of the rock. Both instruments were also used on Jake Matijevic on Sol 47 (Sept. 23).

The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, which shoots laser pulses at a target from the top of Curiosity’s mast, also assessed what chemical elements are in the rock Jake Matijevic. Using both APXS and ChemCam on this rock provides a cross calibration of the two instruments.

More details at Scientific American and nasa.gov.

09.25.2012

mercury’s surface

The surface of Mercury is different than that of other planets. It resembles the surface of a meteorite more than the surfaces of Earth or Mars for instance. The Mercury Messenger probe has new data. Check the source link for a sample photograph:

Now, 205 measurements of Mercury’s surface composition, made by the X-ray spectrometer onboard Messenger, reveal how much Mercury’s surface differs from those of other planets in the solar system.

“Being the closest planet to the sun does mean its formation history would be different and more extreme than the other terrestrial planets, with hotter temperatures and exposure to a stronger gravitational field,” says lead study author Shoshana Weider, a planetary geologist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

The surface is dominated by minerals high in magnesium and enriched in sulfur, making it similar to partially melted versions of an enstatite chondrite, a rare type of meteorite that formed at high temperatures in low-oxygen conditions in the inner solar system.

“The similarity between the constituents of these meteorites and Mercury’s surface leads us to believe that either Mercury formed via the accretion of materials somewhat like the enstatite chondrites, or that both enstatite chondrites and the Mercury precursors were built from common ancestors,” Weider said.

More at Scientific American.

09.25.2012

panda cubs

Panda cubs.

You’ve probably heard by now that the panda cub that was born in the National Zoo last week has died. Panda cubs have low survival rates both in captivity and in the wild. The little panda seems to have died from liver failure. From the New York Times:

Zoo patrons had expressed concern that the cub’s 217-pound mother had crushed the baby, who weighed just four ounces — as little as a stick of butter — in her arms. But the necropsy found no outward signs of trauma or infection, the zoo’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Suzan Murray, said at a news conference.

The cub’s liver, which was roughly the size of a lima bean, was hard to the touch in several spots, Dr. Murray said. Also worrisome, she said, were small amounts of liquid in the panda’s abdomen. The liquid itself was not thought to be enough to cause death, Dr. Murray said, but could be a sign of liver malfunction.

One of the challenges in breeding pandas, as well as many other critically endangered species, is that little is known about either their behavior or specific biology in the wild. Consequently zoos have very few markers to refer to in establishing what, say, a normal liver of a one-week-old panda might look like.

GOLLYGEE!

Date: 09.25.2012 (page 1 of 2)

curiosity and the martian rock

mercury’s surface

panda cubs