Curiosity rover engages in target practice

BBC : NASA’s Curiosity rover shot its first Martian rock, dubbed Coronation, with a laser. By zapping the random target with 30 pulses of IR light, Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument was able to then observe the resulting spark through its telescope. Although the exercise was merely a practice run, scientists on Earth got “a great spectrum of Coronationâmdash;lots of signal,” said principal investigator Roger Wiens of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The component colors emitted indicate which atomic elements are present, and any changes in the signal as it cuts through the layers of the rock can give clues to past weather conditions and other information. Once the mission team has reviewed ChemCam’s performance regarding Coronation, the instrument will begin examining the bedrock on the ground next to Curiosity.