{"id":16695,"date":"2018-09-07T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-09-07T13:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16695"},"modified":"2018-09-07T01:47:16","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T05:47:16","slug":"curiosity-rover-sends-a-grand-panorama-from-vera-rubin-ridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16695","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity rover sends a grand panorama from Vera Rubin Ridge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the latest 360 degree panorama of the Martian landscape taken by the <a href=\"https:\/\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rover Curiosity<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?feature=7230\" target=\"_d\">Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty Skies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lcJLZfPiyfc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>After snagging\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/msl\/mission\/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates\/?mu=sol-2138-2140-success-at-pettegrove-point\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new rock sample<\/a>\u00a0on Aug. 9, NASA&#8217;s Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Vera Rubin Ridge.<\/p>\n<p>The panorama includes umber skies, darkened by a fading global dust storm. It also includes a rare view by the Mast Camera of the rover itself, revealing a thin layer of dust on Curiosity&#8217;s deck. In the foreground is the rover&#8217;s most recent drill target, named &#8220;Stoer&#8221; after a town in Scotland near where important discoveries about early life on Earth were made in lakebed sediments.<\/p>\n<p>The new drill sample delighted Curiosity&#8217;s science team, because the rover&#8217;s last two drill attempts were thwarted by unexpectedly hard rocks. Curiosity started using\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/news\/news.php?feature=7070\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a new drill method<\/a> earlier this year to work around a mechanical problem. Testing has shown it to be as effective at drilling rocks as the old method, suggesting the hard rocks would have posed a problem no matter which method was used.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16696\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16696\" style=\"width: 520px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/spaceimages\/details.php?id=PIA22545\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16696\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=16696\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1400,788\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Curiosity&amp;#8217;s Panorama of Vera Rubin Ridge\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;This 360-degree panorama was taken on Aug. 9 by NASA&amp;#8217;s Curiosity rover at its location on Vera Rubin Ridge. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS&lt;br \/&gt;\n\u203a Full image and caption&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-16696 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/curiosity20180830-161.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16696\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>This 360-degree panorama was taken on Aug. 9 by NASA&#8217;s Curiosity rover at its location on Vera Rubin Ridge. Image Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/MSSS<\/em><br \/><em>\u203a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/spaceimages\/details.php?id=PIA22545\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Full image and caption<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There&#8217;s no way for Curiosity to determine exactly how hard a rock will be before drilling it, so for this most recent drilling activity, the rover team made an educated guess. An extensive ledge on the ridge was thought to include harder rock, able to stand despite wind erosion; a spot below the ledge was thought more likely to have softer, erodible rocks. That strategy seems to have panned out, but questions still abound as to why Vera Rubin Ridge exists in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>The rover has never encountered a place with so much variation in color and texture, according to Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity&#8217;s project scientist at NASA&#8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the Mars Science Laboratory mission that Curiosity is a part of.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>&#8220;The ridge isn&#8217;t this monolithic thing &#8212; it has two distinct sections, each of which has a variety of colors,&#8221; Vasavada said. &#8220;Some are visible to the eye and even more show up when we look in near-infrared, just beyond what our eyes can see. Some seem related to how hard the rocks are.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The best way to discover why these rocks are so hard is to drill them into a powder for the rover&#8217;s two internal laboratories. Analyzing them might reveal what&#8217;s acting as &#8220;cement&#8221; in the ridge, enabling it to stand despite wind erosion. Most likely, Vasavada said, groundwater flowing through the ridge in the ancient past had a role in strengthening it, perhaps acting as plumbing to distribute this wind-proofing &#8220;cement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Much of the ridge contains hematite, a mineral that forms in water. There&#8217;s such a strong hematite signal that it drew the attention of NASA orbiters like a beacon. Could some variation in hematite result in harder rocks? Is there something special in the ridge&#8217;s red rocks that makes them so unyielding?<\/p>\n<p>For the moment, Vera Rubin Ridge is keeping its secrets to itself.<\/p>\n<p>Two more drilled samples are planned for the ridge in September. After that, Curiosity will drive to its scientific end zone: areas enriched in clay and sulfate minerals higher up Mt. Sharp. That ascent is planned for early October.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">====<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none;\" src=\"\/\/rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?o=1&amp;p=12&amp;l=ur1&amp;category=grocery&amp;banner=00G7Z5DTSFKX6MTTBPR2&amp;f=ifr&amp;linkID=6b49309f10639a0063e8c2710e9c356a&amp;t=hobbyspace&amp;tracking_id=hobbyspace\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Check out the latest 360 degree panorama of the Martian landscape taken by the rover Curiosity: Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty Skies After snagging\u00a0a new rock sample\u00a0on Aug. 9, NASA&#8217;s Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Vera Rubin Ridge. The panorama includes umber skies, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16695\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Curiosity rover sends a grand panorama from Vera Rubin Ridge<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,36,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mars","category-multiple-media","category-space-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-4lh","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13070,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13070","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":0},"title":"Explore Mars in 360-degree panorama sent from the Curiosity rover","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is an interactive 360 degree panorama of the scenery that recently surrounded NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover: Explore this Mars panorama by moving the view with your mouse or mobile device. This 360-degree panorama was acquired on Aug. 5, 2016, by the Mastcam on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"mars-rover-mount-sharp-boulders-PIA20836-br2[1]","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/mars-rover-mount-sharp-boulders-PIA20836-br21-1024x553.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6451,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=6451","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":1},"title":"Curiosity: Crossing the sands of Mars + A panorama + Mapping the rover&#8217;s trek from orbit","author":"TopSpacer","date":"February 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mars Curiosity rover looks back over ira trek across a sand dune :\u00a0NASA's Curiosity Drives On After Crossing Martian Dune - NASA JPL\u00a0- NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is continuing its traverse toward enticing science destinations after climbing over a dune spanning a gap in a ridge. The rover covered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"pia17938-640","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/pia17938-640.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14331,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14331","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":2},"title":"Videos: &#8220;Colonizing Mars and Beyond&#8221; panel at Oxford + Curiosity rover sends 360 degree panorama from Ogunquit Beach","author":"TopSpacer","date":"May 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of Mars items: **\u00a0The Pale Red Dot: Colonising Mars and Beyond\u00a0- Panel discussion of Mars settlement: Dr Ellen Stofan (former NASA Chief Scientist) Libby Jackson (UK Space Agency program director) Andrew Weir (Award-winning author of The Martian) Prof. Andrew Coates (Head of Planetary Science, MSSL) Moderator:\u00a0Dr Paul Jepson\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=hobbyspace&l=as2&o=1&a=0553418025","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5268,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=5268","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":3},"title":"Mars panorama from Curiosity","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Check out this cool interactive panoramic view of Mars from the Curiosity rover: Mars Panorama - Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 437 - 360Cities Where Is Curiosity Rover Now? Go There With This Amazing Panorama - Wired Science","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"BodrovPanorama","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/BodrovPanorama.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1415,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=1415","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":4},"title":"Four gigapixel panorama of Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Andrew Bodrov has created a super high-res panorama of Mars using a series of images from the Curiosity rover: 4-Billion-Pixel Panorama From Curiosity Rover Brings Mars to Your Computer Screen - Wired Science\/Wired.com Mars Gigapixel Panorama - Curiosity rover: Martian solar days 136-149 in The World","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Multiple media&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Multiple media","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=36"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2932,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=2932","url_meta":{"origin":16695,"position":5},"title":"A billion-pixel view of Curiosity&#8217;s home on Mars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"June 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A very high-res 360 degree panorama of the landscape around the Curiosity Rover has been posted online: Interactive: Billion-Pixel View of Mars from Curiosity Rover And the main article here: Billion-Pixel View of Mars Comes From Curiosity Rover PASADENA, Calif. -- A billion-pixel view from the surface of Mars, from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Mars&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Mars","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=78"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curiosity billion-pixel panorama","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mars.jpl.nasa.gov\/msl\/images\/PIA16918wb-br.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16697,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16695\/revisions\/16697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}