---"Curiosity" ---
---The Golden Horseshoe ---
&
Mars!
Well, we've done it again! & this time, on Mars!
is the Principal Investigator for APXS."
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/mars/apxs.asp
Well, I am beyond words --- all I can do here is reiterate the title of my blog: They Don't Call It "The Golden Horseshoe for Nothin'!"
As I write, I'm listening to exciting news that the craft, aptly named "Curiosity", has successfully landed on Mars & Dr. Ralph Gellert, a physicist at the University of Guelph, (Ontario), had a LOT to do with it! (For those who do not live nearby, the University of Guelph is a mere 30-minute drive from Hamilton, ON and a 90-minute drive from Niagara Falls. Just a stone's throw away...)
In addition to its other infinitesimally complex abilities, (to put it mildly), the 2.5 billion dollar, space-craft, "Curiosity", was designed to fold itself down several times, like a "Transformer" toy, so as to enable it to cut speed and land safely on the mysterious red planet.
Slowing down in 7 minutes from a speed of thousands miles per hour, "Curiosity" travelled 8 months & over 350 million miles in space!.
This evening, let's all look up at the dusky sky, just after sunset, to peer at that brightly shining triangle of Mars, Saturn and Spica , with the knowledge that we, who live in Canada's Golden Horseshoe, have something in common with this new frontier and this amazing and spectacular human accomplishment!
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| http://earthsky.org/tonight/mars-rover-curiosity-to-land-today-see-mars-tonight |
CONGRATULATIONS to ALL involved in "Curiosity"'s success and especially to Dr. Ralph Gellert!
This a wonderful day!!!!!!!!
'Til next time,
Patti Zonta
PS Please read on:
Curiosity Mars Mission
Curiosity's journey to Mars
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/mars/apxs.as (1.7 MB)
Landing on Mars: Scheduled for August 6 at 1:31 a.m. Eastern (August 5, 10:31 p.m. PDT)NASA has taken a bold new step in the exploration of Planet Mars with a new rover called Curiosity (centerpiece of the Mars Science Laboratory mission). Curiosity will seek to determine if the Red Planet ever had conditions to support life. Launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, Curiosity carries a Canadian-made geology instrument that will enable the rover to determine the chemical composition of the rocks and soil on Mars.http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/mars/apxs.asp
The mobile lab will be equipped with ten different instruments, each with specialized capabilities to investigate different aspects of the rocks and soils or the current environment of the planet. Compiling the data from all the instruments will help scientists establish if Mars was once a more hospitable place for life.
Although recent missions led by Curiosity's predecessors have provided valuable data on the geological composition of our planetary neighbour, Curiosity will delve into Mars' environmental history in much greater detail than previous missions. This laboratory on wheels will act as a motorized field geologist and geochemist, probing and analysing the Martian surface using, among other things, its Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) provided by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The spectrometer, specially adapted and tuned for the mission, will analyse samples to help ascertain the potential habitability of Mars.
APXS instrument
Roughly the size and shape of a Rubik's cube,..."
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| http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/mars/apxs.asp#tabs6 |
The 3 components of the Canadian-built APXS (from left to right): the sensor head, calibration target and main electronics unit. (Credit: MDA)
http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/mars/apxs.asp#tabs6
A new generation of explorers
APXS will be accompanied by nine other science instruments on Curosity, including a hand lens imager and a panoramic camera. In comparison, the MER mission (known for its famous rovers, Spirit and Opportunity) had only five instruments on each rover. The size of a small car, the Curiosity rover is also much bigger than its predecessors. Nevertheless, Curiosity is an effective amalgamation of state-of-the-art laboratory instruments and MER-style mobility that will enable Curiosity to roam and explore the planet.
Due to the added capabilities and the big instruments in the rover's belly, Curiosity needs more energy to operate. It receives its energy from a thermoelectric generator that uses the decay heat from radioactive isotopes to generate about three times the amount of energy that a MER rover achieved under ideal conditions with its solar panels. This also means that Curiosity will be able to operate much better during the Martian winter, when the capabilities of the MER rovers were curtailed due to the low-standing sun.
The mission should last at least one Martian year, the equivalent of two Earth years. As with its predecessors on this desert planet, Curiosity will sleuth through the dust and rock historical archive of Mars' ancient environment in search for answers to a question that has fascinated humanity for ages: is there life out there in the Universe? Thanks to the APXS instrument, Canada will help scientists get a clearer picture of the answer.
The CSA is an international partner on NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Dr. Ralf Gellert of the University of Guelph is the Principal Investigator for APXS. He provided the scientific design based on the MERinstrument (developed at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, in Mainz, Germany) and leads the APXS science team, which includes: the University of New Brunswick, University of Western Ontario, JPL, University of California, San Diego, Cornell University, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Australian National University. MDA is the prime contractor for APXS.
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