|
‘Jake Matijevic’ Contact Target for Curiosity
- Click the image above for a larger view
- Full-Res JPEG (1024 x 1024) (254.6 kB)
- Full-Res TIFF (1024 x 1024) (1.1 MB)
Caption:
The drive by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity during the mission's 43rd Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 19, 2012) ended with this rock about 8 feet (2.5 meters) in front of the rover. The rock is about 10 inches (25 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide. The rover team has assessed it as a suitable target for the first use of Curiosity's contact instruments on a rock. The image was taken by the left Navigation camera (Navcam) at the end of the drive.
The rock has been named "Jake Matijevic." This commemorates Jacob Matijevic (1947-2012), who was the surface operations systems chief engineer for the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the project's Curiosity rover. He was also a leading engineer for all of the previous NASA Mars rovers: Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity.
Curiosity's contact instruments are on a turret at the end of the rover's arm. They are the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer for reading a target's elemental composition and the Mars Hand Lens Imager for close-up imaging.
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Mars | |
| System | ||
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) | Mars Exploration Rover (MER) |
| Instrument Host | Curiosity Rover | Opportunity (MER-B), Spirit (MER-A) |
| Host Type | Rover | |
| Instrument | Navigation Camera (Navcam) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Grayscale | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2012-09-19 | |
| Date in Caption | ||
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL-Caltech | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16155 | |
| Identifier | PIA16155 | |
