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Curiosity Rover Fires First Laser Beam At Martian Rock

Posted by samzenpus on from the curiosity-shot-first dept.

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.

15 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Bagger 288 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    How long until we send a Bagger 288 to mars? That'll show those rocks what for.

    1. Re:Bagger 288 by mirix · · Score: 5, Informative

      95% of the readers just wooshed.

      Bagger is series of gigantic bucket-wheel excavators, for the unitiated. Some (the biggest, at least) were made by East German TAKRAF. I think others were made in west.

      They made some pretty bizarre machines, like RB293 (of bagger series) and F60

      Gotta move that coal...

      --
      Sent from my PDP-11
  2. This means war! by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

    You folks realize that this is very likely to result in a Council of War from the Elders. It's bad enough to litter the landscape with Earthling detritus, but offensive weaponry on innocent and passive Martian rocks cannot be tolerated!

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    1. Re:This means war! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wouldn't worry - once George Lucas re-edits the footage the rock will have fired first...

  3. One problem... by destinyland · · Score: 5, Funny

    What if the martians ARE rocks?!

    1. Re:One problem... by grouchomarxist · · Score: 5, Funny

      One less to worry about...

    2. Re:One problem... by Sulphur · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if the martians ARE rocks?!

      Its last words were "Don't laze me bro."

  4. Old mystery explained. by Bill+Currie · · Score: 5, Funny

    So this is how Curiosity kills cats? I guess the next mission needs to be called Satisfaction.

    --

    Bill - aka taniwha
    --
    Leave others their otherness. -- Aratak

  5. More ad laden slashdot bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anybody want to tell me why they don't link to the source

    And anybody want to tell me why sppammers can post more frequently than I can?

  6. Item drops by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In my experience of shooting lasers at rocks, there's usually a chance of finding a health pack or some coins.

  7. NASA link by caseih · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a more official news link: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20120819b.html. I hope they will announce soon the actual results of the spectroscopy somewhere.

    Also a reminder that NASA's official page for this mission is:
    http://www.nasa.gov/msl/. This is probably a better source for MSL news than wired.

    Would it hurt slashdot editors to post the official NASA links as well as the submitted, third-party news links? We pay them to be editors after all.

  8. Soon, it will start trundling, not locomoting. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Funny

    > A martian rock named "Coronation" was shot with 30 pulses

    ZAPPED, God damn it!

    Robots on Mars with freakin' laser beams and claws zap things!

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  9. Laser or Heat-Ray by thoughtfulbloke · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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...

  10. NASA Fundraiser Alert by meglon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    --
    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
  11. In related news ... by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... Martians seek asylum with Ecuador.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.