Happy birthday Curiosity

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This time last year, millions of us watched live (online and late at night, in my case) as a portable science lab the size of a family car landed on the surface of Mars.  Now Curiosity, the Mars science laboratory, is celebrating its first birthday and a year of successful science.

A self-portrait composite image of Curiosity. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

— A self-portrait composite image of Curiosity. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

I hope that the event of the landing itself will go down in scientific history. Although not as iconic as the Moon landing, Curiosity’s touchdown was extremely ambitious – Nasa’s engineers devised a controlled descent system that involved lowering the rover from a rocket powered ‘sky crane’, so that it could be placed with its wheels on the ground, ready to rove. The entire process took just a few minutes, now dubbed the ‘7 minutes of terror’. Watch a video of the event and you’ll see that this isn’t a bad description – there’s more tension packed into those 420 seconds than in any feature-length Hollywood thriller.

It’s apt that the landing should be something out of the ordinary, as the rover itself is also unique.  At almost twice the length and five times the weight of the largest previous rovers (Nasa’s own Spirit and Opportunity), it is packed with scientific instruments for imaging, sampling and studying the soil and atmosphere. Crammed into the rover are several types of equipment that would not look out of place in a university lab, including a gas chromatograph, a quadrupole mass spectrometer and a tuneable laser spectrometer as well as high-definition cameras. Other, more exotic kit includes a neutron source and detector for measuring hydrogen near the surface and a robotic arm complete with scoops, cameras and a heavily modified drill.

In the past 12 months, Curiosity has made some headway in achieving its scientific goals. Among the objectives were:

  • To investigate the geology of Martian soil, delving into the chemistry and mineralogy of the rocks at and just below the surface
  • Understand the long term atmospheric evolution
  • Determine the water and CO2 cycles, past and present
  • Characterise the levels and spectrum of radiation present on the surface

Although Nasa was very clear that Curiosity is not looking for direct evidence of life, it did set out to look for the chemical signs of past biological activity, as well as the presence of the chemical building blocks of life.

And there have been results. We now have strong geological evidence of ancient streams and an unexpected range of soil and rock types that tell the story of Mars’s watery past. Curiosity also found carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur in rocks known to have been formed in water. From this it’s possible to conclude that Mars has, at some point, had all of the chemical necessities for life. But before you get too excited, there’s also a complete lack of methane, a key marker for biology, so the surface remains sterile.

A search for Mars science laboratory on Web of Knowledge (not a definitive measure, I’ll grant you, but a nice indication) renders over 300 journal articles. Not all of these will be primary research from real Curiosity data (others are reviews, theoretical studies or models that may help us direct future missions) but this does suggest that Curiosity is asking the right questions and leading to genuine scientific discovery and exploration here on Earth.

There is a greater ambition behind all of this research. Every sample, spectrograph, photograph, published paper and each of the myriad small observations, takes us a step closer to a manned Mars mission. In a press release celebrating the anniversary, Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden confirmed this by saying ‘successes of our Curiosity — that dramatic touchdown a year ago and the science findings since then — advance us toward further exploration, including sending humans to an asteroid and Mars … Wheel tracks now, will lead to boot prints later.’

And it may be a nuclear-powered chemistry and geology lab, plonked on the surface of an alien planet by a massive rocket powered crane, but that doesn’t mean it’s all business.  This week, a vibrating (and therefore noisy) component in SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars module, was re-tuned to play the tune of ‘happy birthday’. It’s a shame that, for now, there’s nobody there to hear it.

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Source:
http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/2013/08/07/happy-birthday-curiosity/

Group 1 – the Alkali Metals | The Periodic Table | The Chemistry Journey | The Virtual School – Video

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Group 1 - the Alkali Metals | The Periodic Table | The Chemistry Journey | The Virtual School
A great summary about Group 1 in the Periodic table - The Alkali Metals. SUBSCRIBE to our channel to access many more educational videos. At The Virtual Scho...

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Hardening Vegetable Oils (Margarine) through Hydrogenation | Chemistry Journey | The Virtual School – Video

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Hardening Vegetable Oils (Margarine) through Hydrogenation | Chemistry Journey | The Virtual School
Learm how to harden vegetable oils through a chemical process demonstrated on the example of Margarine. SUBSCRIBE to our channel to access many more educatio...

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Bournemouth look to regain confidence, chemistry in trip to West … – ESPN FC (blog)

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Shaka Hislop evaluates Pep Guardiola's interest in Jack Wilshere, and whether he would fit in at Manchester City.

Right now, Bournemouth are in what full-back Charlie Daniels describes as a "hard time."The club are struggling for results, the squad available to Eddie Howe is the weakest one they have had all season and it even looks like their once-strong home form is also fading.

Bournemouth have not won since Dec. 31 and the forecast for future points remains bleak considering their recent performances. Latest defeats to some very mediocre sides such as Crystal Palace, Hull and Millwall hint that victory against West Brom is a bigger ask than it arguably should be. The Baggies are flying at the moment in eighth position and are unbeaten in their last four, so the Cherries have a tough game on their hands.

"One win and the confidence will come back" said Josh King, before further suggesting success on the south coast is a habit. He's right, and as seen last season with the late equaliser against Everton, a small but significant moment can easily propel the side into a run of good form. Bournemouth are a team that thrive on confidence and team chemistry. They don't rely on star names to dig them out of trouble nor do they have an arrogance about their play. They are mentally frail because of this, but when the Cherries are playing with acquired authority and confidence they are a match for any side. They will be in the hunt for that season-changing moment against the Baggies as well as a pressure-releasing win.

Positive mindsets are the main thing that the players will need to take into the clash on Feb. 25 and Howe simply needs to play to his team's strengths. One thing the manager can rely on is the work rate in central midfield. Howe's preference to start Andrew Surman is costing the team and he needs to be dropped for the more energetic Dan Gosling. The former suits his style of free-flowing expansive football, but right now Bournemouth need security and the extra never-say-die attitude from Gosling's play should be added to Harry Arter's similar style.

Daniels and Adam Smith are full of questions defensively but in terms of attacking output they are a class above the rest. They are the biggest offensive threat at the moment and playing both of them is essential in the quest of goals. Bournemouth need a defensive overhaul in the summer, but right now they are stuck with what they have got so using both the full-backs to their main strengths is a must.

Jordon Ibe's influence of late is something that needs to be seized upon as well. His performance against Manchester City on Feb. 13 was decent and he was unfazed by the household names on Pep Guardiola's team sheet. The lack of fear displayed by Ibe is another part of Bournemouth's play which needs to be utilised.

Problem areas remain in the centre of defence and the possibility of a free transfer from somewhere seriously needs to be considered as Simon Francis is just not Premier League level. Christian Samba is available and at just 32 years old he is seemingly not completely past it yet. His experience all over Europe and at international level would be useful.

Benik Afobe supplies some competition up front to Josh King and his physicality off the bench is a good option to have late on in attempts to wear down an already tired back four. Jonny Evans is likely to start in the Baggies back four and he isn't the quickest defender in the league so King's pace should be preferred.

A team break in Spain --despite the mix up with the anti-doping charge--with a change of scenery and escape from Bournemouth should help the squad. Everything is in favour of the Cherries picking up points, but as we have seen previously this season, they are not the best side away from home. Bournemouth were 9-1 to get relegated at the end of January, and odds have since dropped to 7-1. Another defeat to West Brom and these odds will drop further and fans should definitely start to fear relegation. The season is currently on a tightrope.

Will Kent is a freelance journalist who has worked for AFC Bournemouth, ESPN UK and ESPN FC, among others. Twitter: @WillKentSPORT

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Bournemouth look to regain confidence, chemistry in trip to West ... - ESPN FC (blog)

Home – Creamistry : Creamistry

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