Over the weekend, it fired its laser at a humble rock to study what it’s made of. Unsurprisingly, the zapped rock was typical of other Martian rocks, made of basalt.
During the checkups, scientists discovered a damaged wind sensor, possibly after it was hit by rocks that landed on the rover’s instrument deck during landing. Deputy project scientist Ashwin Vasavada said the broken sensor will not jeopardize the mission since there’s a spare.
Since nailing the daredevil landing, the rover team has been acknowledged by President Barack Obama. Gov. Jerry Brown, who declared Wednesday as “Space Day” visited the lab and donned 3-D glasses to view an animation of Curiosity’s first drive on a big screen in the control room.
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Follow Alicia Chang’s Mars coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
By Andrew P. Napolitano
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