“Kyuriositi” reached the coveted mountain Eolida – GISMETEO.Novosti

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NASA “Kyuriositi” spending on Mars for more than two Earth years, got, finally, to its main goal – the mountain Eolida (also called mountain Sharpe) . In the coming days, the rover will be able to start drilling the rock to soil samples to determine the structure, as well as its chemical composition.

One of the representatives of the research project “Kyuriositi” John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, said that two years after landing on the Red Planet rover was able to overcome some eight kilometers. This distance “Kyuriositi” was not without problems, however, yield to the finish line gives scientists hope to obtain new information which may give them the answers to a range of issues.

© NASA / JPL-Caltech

As the head of NASA’s planetary exploration, Jim Green at a press conference devoted to the output of the rover to the main object of this mission, studied mountain located in the crater Gale. Its diameter is more than 150 kilometers. According to the scientist, studied the composition of the rock in the area, the researchers will be able to obtain new data on the entire surface of Mars. Study on the mountain Eolida, according to Jim Green, will take at least two months.

Note that the experience rock drilling at “Kyuriositi” already exists. The first time the rover launched his rig back in 2013. Taking soil samples in a small-sized cavity near the scene of his immediate landing, the unit will provide scientists with indirect evidence that in this location once housed the lake. Then, at the beginning of this year, the rover took another sample of soil – at the foot of the test crater. These samples are still in the study.