Curiosity Rover Fires First Laser Beam At Martian Rock

A martian rock named "Coronation" was shot with 30 pulses over a 10-second period by Curiosity's laser today in order to determine what elements it was made of. “We got a great spectrum of Coronation — lots of signal,” Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory, leader of the ChemCam scientific team, said in a press release today. “Our team is both thrilled and working hard, looking at the results. After eight years building the instrument, it’s payoff time!” Another rock known as N165 was selected for later testing.

Comments

Laser or Heat-Ray

[thoughtfulbloke]

shot with 30 pulses over a 10-second period by Curiosity's laser today in order to determine what elements it was made of

or as H.G. Wells put it,

...the Martians rattle for a time and then become still. The giant saved Woking station and its cluster of houses until the last; then in a moment the Heat-Ray was brought to bear, and the town became a heap of fiery ruins. Then the Thing shut off the Heat-Ray, and turning its back...

NASA Fundraiser Alert

[meglon]

NASA should offer the chance to name each rock it blasts for a donation. They could probably get free advertising from science mags, oddball news organizations doing stories, and divorce lawyers.