NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has fired its laser for the first time. Its target wasn’t attacking Martians, but a 7 cm (2.75 inch) wide rock called “Coronation” (AKA N165) about 10 feet (3 m) from the rover. Curiosity’s laser fired 30 pulses over a ten-second interval, hitting Coronation with one million watts for five-one billionths of a second. As tiny bits of Coronation vaporized into a glowing plasma, Curiosity's ChemCam analyzed the stone’s makeup by means of a telescope and three spectrometers... Continue Reading War of the Worlds: Curiosity fires first laser shot on Mars

Section: Aero Gizmo

Tags: Curiosity Rover, Laser, Mars, NASA, Robot, Space, Spacecraft

Related Articles: