Curiosity Makes Contact With Martian Rock Using Robotic Arm For
First Time Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com – Your Universe
Online After NASA picked out a suitable rock to study on the Red
Planet, the agency’s Curiosity rover took a little stroll to the
Martian sample and, for the first time, used its robotic arm to
make contact with the otherworldly artifact. The rock, named
“Jake Matijevic,” after the late rover engineer of the same
name, will be studied by Curiosity to determine what chemical
elements make up its composition. Curiosity made the contact on
its 46th day in service on Mars, September 22, or Sol 46. The
contact was made by the rover’s Alpha Particle X-Ray
Spectrometer (APXS) instrument on a turret at the end of the
robotic arm. It closely inspected the football-sized rock with
its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). Curiosity made additional
contact with the Martian sample on Sol 47. NASA had not expected
the rock to have high research value, but was regarded as an
early opportunity to demonstrate