Curiosity Fires Its Laser For the First Time

The harsh interrogation of Martian rocks has officially begun. Curiosity?s laser-shooting Chemistry and Camera instrument (or ChemCam) took aim at its first mark?a fist-sized rock called Coronation?yesterday.

The ChemCam shoots high intensity beams that excite the atoms in a target until they become glowing plasma. By using Curiosity?s onboard spectrograph to analyze the plasma, researchers will understand what elements make up the pulverized Martian dust.

Coronation?s destruction was meant as a test run for the instrument, but according to a NASA press release, this firing of the ChemCam could be more important than the agency expected. Once the elemental composition of the rock is figured out, researchers can see if the elements popping up on the spectrograph changed at any point during the laser?s 10-second blast. If they do, it could mean that the dust on the outside of the rock is chemically distinct from the interior of the rock.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how-to/blog/curiosity-fires-its-laser-for-the-first-time-11877808?src=rss

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