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Curiosity Rover Update: Sniffing Mars’ Atmosphere
What has Curiosity been up to lately? The rover’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments makes up more than half the science payload on board MSL, and it is now searching for compounds of the element carbon — including the enticing methane that has been observed in Mars’ atmosphere from telescopes and instruments on Earth. These are the elements that are associated with life, and SAM is trying to determine if methane can be detected from the surface, as well. So far, the rover has not found “definitive evidence” beyond data uncertainty of methane in Mars’ thin atmosphere. But that doesn’t close the door on the subject. It is still early in the mission, and the methane on Mars has been cyclical in nature.
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Read the rest of Curiosity Rover Update: Sniffing Mars’ Atmosphere (309 words)
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2012-11-12 19:41:59
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/98416/curiosity-rover-update-sniffing-mars-atmosphere/
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