The rover reached the goal – BBC

The rover Curiosity, two years plowing Martian expanse, reached the main goal – the central peak of the crater Gale. Climbing on it, the machine will be able to layer by layer to study the geological past of the planet.

After two years of traveling on the Martian surface rover Curiosity American reached the main purpose of his stay on the planet – he was at the foot of Mount Sharp, central peak of Gale Crater, which landed in 2012. And now to the many questions of “We’re here?” At NASA can finally say, “Yes, we have in place».

Mountain Eolida among astronomers became known informally as the mountain Sharpe after the famous American geologist Robert Sharpe.

It rises by 5.5 km above the crater and covered by a huge layer of different layers of sedimentary rocks. This determined at the time the choice of the mountains as a major goal of the American mission, slowly climbing the mountain, the device will open more and more layers, which give information about the distant geological past of the Red Planet, times warmer and moister than today. “We are here to announce that a new phase of exploration of Mars rover Curiosity has begun,” – said on the eve of James Green, director of the division of planetary NASA, during a special conference dedicated to this event. During his trip to the mountain rover made several discoveries, the main task – to prove that the Gale crater was once a lake,

in which micro-organisms could exist, if any, ever present on the planet.

The path to the mountain turned out to be slightly longer than the calculated time. This is due to the fact that the machine had to stop every now and then for a variety of scientific experiments and avoid dangerous places, where its wheels could damage the sharp stones and where he could ever get stuck in the sand.

Now the scientists another problem – found on the slopes of Mount carbonaceous deposits, which once could be the building blocks for these organisms. The study of mountains rover will start from the lower slopes. Climb the mountain agreed with hills Pahrump Hills, not Murray Buttes, as previously planned. These formations lie on the boundary of the lower sediment mountains and the underlying surface. “The nature of the surface of Pahrump Hills, and all that he was more interesting than the Murray-Butts. Outcrop in the contact zone are more attractive due to the peculiarities of the relief, “- said John Grottsinger team member Curiosity.

The decision to go the other way was made after several experiments done earlier in the rover field outcrops. One such outcrop called “Bonanza King”, the rover explored in the last month, there was found a high content of silicon.

His drilling is not possible, as the stone began to move and “jumping around.”

Finding a way to help the rover and the data from the orbiters. Thus, the probe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed the mesas, towering 18 meters above the place where now there is a rover. Scientists plan to take samples from the surface when the machine reach this point at the end of the week.

tune up

The mission came under fire during the discussion of whether or not to renew the work allocated to it by the rover over two years.

Despite the fact that a special committee voted in favor of the extension of the mission, its members did not like that the rover does not justify the investment in a $ 2.5 billion, and the team members are passionate about riding more than conducting scientific experiments. Green said, in 2015 the work unit on board is still working and the Russian DAN instrument will cost American taxpayers an additional $ 59.4 million.