Curiosity Rover Back on Mars After Holiday Break, Drilling Ahead with SAM Experiment
After a month-long holiday behind the sun, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has returned to work on the Martian surface. The rover's first planning day last Friday gave it a full weekend of activities, which wrapped up with preparing for its next drill.
The rover's destination is the "Nevado Sajama" drill site, where it drilled back in November. This time around, Curiosity will be conducting a rare experiment using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, which uses tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) to help identify organic molecules.
To ensure everything goes smoothly with this complex experiment, the rover team conducted a rehearsal of the handoff of the sample to SAM on Wednesday. This was followed by a small drive to the drill location, about 2 meters away from the "Nevado Sajama" site.
Curiosity's energy is limited for this experiment, so any extra time has been used for environmental observations. The rover team keeps track of dust levels in the crater and wider atmosphere, as well as looking out for dust devils near the surface.
The rover will be taking a small drill sample to study its composition, which could provide valuable insights into the Martian environment.
After a month-long holiday behind the sun, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has returned to work on the Martian surface. The rover's first planning day last Friday gave it a full weekend of activities, which wrapped up with preparing for its next drill.
The rover's destination is the "Nevado Sajama" drill site, where it drilled back in November. This time around, Curiosity will be conducting a rare experiment using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument, which uses tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) to help identify organic molecules.
To ensure everything goes smoothly with this complex experiment, the rover team conducted a rehearsal of the handoff of the sample to SAM on Wednesday. This was followed by a small drive to the drill location, about 2 meters away from the "Nevado Sajama" site.
Curiosity's energy is limited for this experiment, so any extra time has been used for environmental observations. The rover team keeps track of dust levels in the crater and wider atmosphere, as well as looking out for dust devils near the surface.
The rover will be taking a small drill sample to study its composition, which could provide valuable insights into the Martian environment.
. Now they're diving right back in with that SAM experiment, gotta say, always fascinating stuff. Hope everything goes smoothly, been watching those dust levels and whatnot, feel like we're learning more about the Martian surface every time this rover does something new. And who knows, maybe it'll even give us a better idea of what's up with all that water ice they've found 
just saw that Curiosity Rover is back on Mars and I'm super stoked! 
the SAM experiment is gonna give us some major clues about organic molecules on the Red Planet. it's wild thinking we might actually find out if life ever existed there... and even if not, the data they gather could still help us better understand Martian geology & climate 
now let's see what kinds of cool discoveries they'll make at the "Nevado Sajama" drill site...
I mean, can you blame them? This thing is a game-changer if it works out.
It's like something straight out of science fiction. And the rover team being all cautious and stuff is just good planning - I mean, you can't be too careful when you're playing with Martian dust and whatnot 
Can't wait to see what kind of discoveries come out of this!
they're also being pretty smart by rehearsing the handoff to sam and taking extra time for env observations... can't help but wonder what's in store for us from these missions 
they're doing some awesome experiments like that sam thingy and it's gonna help us learn so much more about the red planet 
the rover's energy levels are low, so they're taking it slow and steady. also nice that they're keeping an eye out for dust devils - safety first! 
! SAM experiment is super cool, can't wait to see what those organic molecules reveal about the Red Planet's past 
️ Now let's get this Martian sample analysis underway and see what secrets it holds 
so like curiosity rover is back on mars and it's gonna do some super cool experiments with the sam instrument 
its like whoa that they got to rehearse a handoff of samples and stuff before actually doing it. and the fact that they're looking out for dust devils is just mind blown 
i mean we all know mars is like totally dusty but wow. can u even imagine getting to study those tiny particles up close? 
(just kidding about that one lol). But seriously, this is a huge deal for science and exploration. The rover team must be super stoked to be back to work 
The fact that they're taking it easy with some environmental observations before diving into the nitty-gritty of the SAM experiment is a good move - gotta make sure everything is on point.
hopefully it yields some cool results and gives us more info about mars' environment 
. Drilling ahead, literally – I guess you could say it's a hole lot of fun! 
The fact they had a rehearsal for the handoff of the sample shows just how meticulous they are, which is exactly what we need for space exploration 
. Now, about that limited energy... fingers crossed it'll be enough to get the job done 
. Can't wait to see what secrets Nevado Sajama has in store for us 
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