Today On Mars: Curiosity Arrives At 'The Promised Land'
Martian 'Schmutz' Curiosity has been exposing some bright flecks of material when it scoops the Martian soil. NASA engineers have taken to calling it "schmutz." NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSSNow parked in the long-awaited Glenelg area on Mars, Curiosity swallows its first dirt sample intended for science. The Mars rover Curiosity has arrived at its long-sought destination: Glenelg, a region where three types of geologic formations converge into a potential bonanza for scientists. "Glenelg was conceptually a point that represented the three areas," John Grotzinger, project scientist for MSL at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told reporters today. "As part of understanding how those interrelate, we consider ourselves now to be in the promised land." Now the rover's Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument is analyzing a scooped sample of dirt from a site inside Glenelg called Rocknest. This is a major step for the rover, whose ability to X-ray sand is a crucial part of...