NASA will reveal new discoveries about Mars gleaned from the Curiosity rover's first rock powder sample in a high-profile press conference on Tuesday (March 12). <\/p>\n
The Mars rover press conference, which will be held at the agency's headquarters in Washington, will begin at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). It will be broadcast live on NASA's TV and webcast channels, a departure from recent teleconferences that have been a staple of Curiosity rover mission updates. <\/p>\n
You can watch the Mars rover press conference on SPACE.com here. <\/p>\n
NASA officials said the Tuesday press conference will \"discuss the Curiosity rover's analysis of the first sample of rock powder ever collected on Mars.\" <\/p>\n
Curiosity drilled into a Mars rock for the first time on Feb. 8 using a percussive drill tool mounted to its robotic arm. The rover drilled a 2.5-inch (6.4 centimeters) hole into a flat Mars rock called \"John Klein,\" named after a NASA Curiosity rover project manager who died in 2011. <\/p>\n
The first sample drilling on Mars revealed an odd, gray interior of Martian rock that stood out in stark contrast to the ubiquitous orange-red of the Red Planet's surface. Curiosity scooped up a sample of the gray rock powder and placed it inside two onboard laboratories, called the Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument and Sample Analysis at Mars, to determine its chemical makeup. [1st Mars Drilling on Mars by Curiosity (Photos)] <\/p>\n
NASA is expected to discuss the results from those tests in Tuesday's press conference, which will include presentations by the following scientists: <\/p>\n
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity landed on the Red Planet on Aug. 5 to begin a two-year primary mission aimed at determining if the planet is now, or could ever have been, capable of supporting primitive life. The $2.5 billion Curiosity is about the size of a car, making it the largest rover ever to explore Mars. It carries 10 different science instruments to study the Red Planet in unprecedented detail. <\/p>\n
Curiosity landed inside the huge Gale Crater on Mars and is currently at a site called Yellowknife Bay, which is home to the John Klein rock. The rover is ultimately destined to a region dubbed Glenelg, which is near the base of a 3-mile-high (5 kilometers) mountain rising from the center of Gale Crater. <\/p>\n
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com<\/a> or follow him@tariqjmalikandGoogle+. Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+.Original article on SPACE.com. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n View post:<\/p>\n NASA Unveiling New Mars Discoveries by Curiosity Rover Tuesday<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA will reveal new discoveries about Mars gleaned from the Curiosity rover's first rock powder sample in a high-profile press conference on Tuesday (March 12). The Mars rover press conference, which will be held at the agency's headquarters in Washington, will begin at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT). Continue reading