Curiosity's gravity instruments reveal new holes in the story of Mars
Nick Lavars
an hour ago
NASA's Curiosity rover and its suite of advanced tools have revealed all kinds of fascinating facts about Mars, but scientists here on Earth have now uncovered a surprising characteristic through one of its more rudimentary instruments. Using an accelerometer similar to what you'd find in a smartphone, the researchers have been able to gather more precise density measurements of its rocky layers, finding it to be much more porous than previously thought.
For more than six years now the Curiosity rover has been schlepping its way across Mars' Gale Crater, using its high-resolution cameras to image its more remarkable features, its drill to dig into the surface and its miniature onboard laboratories to break down samples and reveal organic molecules at least three billion years old.
There is a lot these kinds of instruments can and have told us about Mars, but scientists tracking five years of data from its onboard accelerometers have revealed some holes in the story. Just as they do in a smartphone, Curiosity's accelerometers can determine its orientation and motion, but with much greater precision and with the ability to measure the force of gravity at different points on the surface as well.
"Working from the rocks' mineral abundances as determined by the chemistry and mineralogy instrument, we estimated a grain density of 2,810 kilograms per cubic meter," said Travis Gabriel, a graduate student at the Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration. "However, the bulk density that came out of our study is a lot less — 1,680 kilograms per cubic meter."
More:
https://newatlas.com/curiosity-gravity-holes-mars/58295/