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- Product Reviews
- The UVTools M100 Ultraviolet Light Kit
- GemOro Stereo Microscope
- Meiji Techno Binocular and Trinocular Stereo Microscopes
- Raynox Video MicroExplorer
- The Photo-Atlas of Minerals CD
- OsoSoft MineralLabel 5.0 - Now Freeware!
- Belomo 10x Loupe: An Inexpensive Russian Triplet
- $8 BIRI Russian Radiation Detector
- GemOro Stereo Microscope
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- Alone No More
- Martian Meteorite ALH84001 Harbinger of Extraterrestrial Life
- Check out Bob's Martian Touchdown - A Rockhound's Cosmic Encounter with Three Extraterrestrials
- Curiosity on Mars
- The Landing: Another Small Step for Man - A Giant Leap for Robot Kind
- The Landing Site: The Geological Jackpot at Gale Crater
- Curiosity: The Escalade of Mars Rovers
- The Science Payload: Rock Zappers and the Search for Biosignatures
- Want to Know More? References and Further Reading
- The Landing Site: The Geological Jackpot at Gale Crater
Curiosity Finds Conditions Once Suited For Ancient Life On Mars: An analysis of a rock sample collected by Curiosity shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes. The data indicate the Yellowknife Bay area the rover is exploring was the end of an ancient river system or an intermittently wet lake bed that could have provided chemical energy and other favorable conditions for microbes. The rock is made up of a fine-grained mudstone containing clay minerals, sulfate minerals and other chemicals. This ancient wet environment, unlike some others on Mars, was not harshly oxidizing, acidic or extremely salty.
Curiosity Marks First Martian Year: Curiosity completed a Martian year - 687 Earth days - on June 24, 2014, having accomplished the mission's main goal of determining whether Mars once offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.
Curiosity Wrapping Up Waypoint Work: Portions of powdered rock collected by drilling into a sandstone target last week have been delivered to laboratory instruments inside Curiosity, and the rover will soon drive on toward its long-term destination on a mountain slope.
Curiosity Rover Drills Sandstone Slab on Mars: Portions of rock powder collected by the hammering drill on Curiosity from a slab of Martian sandstone will be delivered to the rover's internal instruments.
"Windjana" Looks Good for Drilling: Curiosity has used several tools to examine the candidate site including a wire-bristle brush - the Dust Removal Tool - to clear away dust from a patch on the rock.
Drill Here?: The team operating Curiosity Mars is telling the rover to use several tools to inspect a sandstone slab being evaluated as a possible drilling target. If this target meets criteria set by engineers and scientists, it could become the mission's third drilled rock, and the first that is not mudstone.
Curiosity Images Asteroids: A new image from Curiosity Mars rover is the first ever from the surface of Mars to show an asteroid, and it shows two: Ceres and Vesta.
Curiosity May Drill Martian Butte: Scientists are eyeing a rock layer surrounding the base of a small butte, called "Mount Remarkable," as a target for investigating with tools Curiosity's robotic arm. A site on this middle unit may become the third rock that Curiosity samples with its drill.
Images From Curiosity Include Bright Spots: Images taken by Curiosity Mars rover include bright spots, which are most probably due to the sun glinting off a rock or cosmic rays striking the camera's detector.
Curiosity Scoping Out Next Study Area: Curiosity has reached a vantage point for its cameras to survey four different types of rock intersecting in an area called "the Kimberley," after a region of western Australia. The mission's investigations at the Kimberley are planned as the most extensive since Curiosity spent the first half of 2013 in an area called Yellowknife Bay.
Curiosity's Next Stop Has Sandstone Variations: Variations in the stuff that cements grains together in sandstone have shaped the landscape surrounding Curiosity and could be a study topic at the mission's next science waypoint.
More Curiosity in the News
Ex-Boy Scout Leaders Charged With Felonies: It just took a little push to topple the delicately perched boulder - millions of years in the making - in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park. Then the man who did it laughed, high-fived his son, and flexed his muscles while being cheered on by a fellow Boy Scout leader. He is not likely celebrating now, nor is his friend who videotaped then publicized the episode, after both were charged with third-degree felonies. Boy Scouts Toss 2 Leaders Who Knocked Over Goblin: A northern Utah Boy Scouts council has announced that former Boy Scout leaders Glenn Taylor and Dave Hall will no longer be allowed to lead scouting troops as a result of their vandalism of Goblin Valley State Park. Boy Scout Leaders Destroy Ancient Formation In Utah's Goblin Valley: Boy Scout and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints youth leaders Dave Hall, Glenn Taylor and Dylan Taylor are potentially facing felony charges for destroying a rock formation nearly 200 million years old. The trio of vandals was adventuring in Utah's Goblin Valley State Park when they decided to film themselves knocking over one of the formations, known as "Goblins." Peru's Petrified Forest: Tucked high in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru is a remarkable fossil locality: a 39-million-year-old petrified forest preserved in nearly pristine condition. Since its discovery, scientists and other concerned citizens have been working to study and preserve the spectacular site and its unusual and diverse fossils. World's Biggest-ever Flying Bird Discovered: Scientists have identified the fossilized remains of an extinct giant bird that could be the biggest flying bird ever found. Pelagornis sandersi was an extremely efficient glider, with long slender 20-24 foot wings that helped it stay aloft despite its enormous size. Rare Fossil Eggs Reveal How Pterosaurs Lived: The spectacular discovery of three dimensional 120-million year old pterosaur eggs provides a unique insight into the ancient flying reptiles' lifestyle. Until now, only four pterosaur eggs had ever been found, and all were flattened during the process of fossilisation. Original 'Early Bird' Really Could Fly: Archaeopteryx - considered Earth's oldest-known bird - was completely capable of flying, a new analysis of fossil remains has found. The findings dispel suggestions the creature's feathers were too weak to support flight. Animals Built Reefs 550 Million Tears Ago: Researchers have discovered that one of the world's oldest reefs - now located on dry land in Namibia - was built almost 550 million years ago by the first animals to have hard shells. Salt Water On Titan: Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Cassini mission have firm evidence the ocean inside Saturn's largest moon, Titan, might be as salty as Earth's Dead Sea. Staking a claim: Deep-sea mining nears fruition: Deep sea hydrothermal vent systems contain untapped mineral wealth that would have been beyond any prospector’s wildest dreams just decades ago. Antarctic Ice Sheet Unstable At End Of Last Ice Age: A new study has found that the Antarctic Ice Sheet began melting about 5,000 years earlier than previously thought coming out of the last ice age - causing rapid sea level rise. The study is particularly important coming on the heels of recent studies that suggest destabilization of part of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun. First Mass Extinction: Ancient volcanic eruptions in Australia 510 million years ago significantly affected the climate, causing the first known mass extinction in the history of complex life. New Ichthyosaur Graveyard Found: Geoscientists have documented the discovery of forty-six ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs in southern Chile. Among them are numerous articulated and virtually complete skeletons of adults, pregnant females, and juveniles. Preservation is excellent and occasionally includes soft tissue and embryos. Kapteyn B May Be Wet: Astronomers have discovered two new planets orbiting a red dwarf that is only 13 light years distant to our own sun. One of these planets orbits Kapteyn's Star at the right distance to allow liquid water to exist on its surface, a key ingredient to support life. Habitable Planets Search Deflated By Stellar Wind: The hunt for habitable planets beyond the Solar System just became more difficult. A recent study suggests that the same factors that make planets near M-dwarf stars easy to probe for potential life also diminish the chances that life could actually exist on those planets. Mars Rocks Wear Manganese Coats: Several rocks on the surface of Mars are coated with distinctive dark-colored surface layers enriched in manganese. Given proposed links between microbial activity and terrestrial manganese coatings, the evidence for high surface concentrations of manganese is an intriguing twist for researchers looking for signs of life on Mars. Saturn-Like Rings Spotted Around Asteroid: The ring system around the icy asteroid Chariklo is the first found encircling anything in our solar system other than a gas giant. More Rocks in the News
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