WASHINGTON: Mars rover Curiosity is back online again after a short break to get a software upgrade and has lost no time getting back to work drilling into Martian rock.
After an earlier try at drilling this month, the slab of rock the rover had been working on split into several pieces, according to a report by BBC News. The new target rock, dubbed Mojave2, reportedly looks like it will hold up.
This is the fifth drilled sample consumed by Curiosity for analysis and is expected to be completed soon.
For the time being, Curiosity is also exploring the lower regions of Mount Sharp, also known as Aeolis Mons, which rises up from the floor of Gale Crater to a height of 18,000 feet (5.5 kilometers). The roving science lab has been investigating the crater since it landed there in 2012.
Curiosity repeatedly has made headlines as one stunning new discovery after another is revealed by NASA scientists.
Importantly, the rover has found evidence that billions of years ago, the now dry and dead Red Planet once had liquid water flowing across its landscape and supported an atmosphere and climate that was favorable for the presence of microbial life.
On December 16, 2014, NASA revealed that Curiosity had detected the presence of methane and other complex carbon molecules, particularly chlorobenzene, on Mars. Finding a chemical signature identifying methane is significant because almost all the methane emissions on Earth are a result of microbial activity. The rover Curiosity is expected to learn more about the Red Planet’s geological and environmental history as it continues to study the sedimentary layers on the slopes of Mount Sharp.
In January of this year, NASA and Microsoft announced the joint development of a software program called OnSight, which lets scientists use data collected by Curiosity to perform virtual work on Mars.
