For the previous month, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been shadowing Gediz Vallis, a channel that scientists assume could be the fossil of an historic Martian river.
Final week, Curiosity reached the north aspect of Pinnacle Ridge, a part of a rock wall that looms over Gediz Vallis. In actual fact, after Curiosity navigated bumpy floor to do this, it discovered that the ridge’s south aspect is navigable.
That left Curiosity’s overseers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California with a alternative: Ought to they carry on their deliberate course, persevering with to drive alongside Gediz Vallis till they attain some extent the place the rover can cross it? Or ought to they take a diversion to discover Pinnacle Ridge’s south aspect?
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If Curiosity stayed on Pinnacle Ridge, it might give its overseers a deep look into the ridge’s rocks. These rocks could have as soon as been touched by operating water and bear traces of that previous. Alternatively, the rocks on Pinnacle Ridge’s south aspect may inform them little that they hadn’t already noticed by wanting on the ridge’s north aspect.
In the meantime, transferring alongside Gediz Vallis might allow them to discover different components of Mars. However departing Pinnacle Ridge may imply abandoning a — very actually — once-in-a-lifetime alternative to find out about historic Martian operating water.
So deliberated roughly two dozen mission scientists — understanding they’d solely hours to determine on Curiosity’s path. “We talked quite a bit about how the rocks we might see from our present location in contrast with the rocks we already investigated on the north aspect,” Abigail Fraeman, planetary geologist at JPL, mentioned in a blog post.
In the end, the scientists determined to maneuver alongside, persevering with on the Gediz Vallis path. First, Curiosity’s devices will take some chemical measurements of the rocks instantly beneath the rover’s wheels. Then, the rover can be on its manner.
“I actually love operations days like at present. We got here on this morning with a very new Martian vista to admire, after which we needed to work collectively as a workforce to make a fast choice about what to do subsequent,” Fraeman mentioned.
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