Meanwhile on Mars…
Scientists have spotted something metallic on the Martian surface and aren't sure what it is but think it may be a piece of hardware that fell off the rover itself. The object (A screw, perhaps?) was spotted after the Curiosity rover took its first soil scoop of the red planet.
Another time-lapse video shows how the rover vibrates the soil:
The clip includes 256 frames from Curiosity's Mast Camera, taken at about eight frames per second, plus interpolated frames to run at actual speed in this 32-frames-per-second version. The scoop was vibrated to discard any overfill. Churning due to vibration also serves to show physical characteristics of the collected material, such as an absence of pebbles. The scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide, 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) long.
Watch, AFTER THE JUMP…
