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Rover 'Curiosity' begins exploration of Mars

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    Former astronaut Tom Jones weighs in

  • Duration 2:42
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Hard part for NASA is over the Mars rover curiosity is on the ground on the red planet and now the fun begins.

The rover blasting Iraq with a high powered laser to analyze its mineral content.

Now after days of system checks it's finally set to begin exploring the martian surface.

Let's talk about it -- Tom Jones a former NASA astronaut and a Fox News contributors so they've spent a lot of time.

Making sure that it's sort of all systems go they've been updating the software on this thing.

Now it's about time for the rover to actually get to work -- Tom.

Right John it's been about two weeks insect curiosity -- land on Mars inside gale crater and so the scientists there with the instrument check out well underway and everything working.

Are now making up plan for the first drive across the martian surface this week.

They'll spin the wheels a little bit go back -- backwards and forwards about ten feet and make -- -- the drive systems are working and then they're gonna set.

Course for this place called Glenn L which is an interest in bed rock outcrop about 400 meters away.

And okay so they're gonna and they're gonna check out this outcropping of rock what are they -- to do.

Hoping to -- well.

This is an interesting place in the landscape about that a third of a half a mile away where.

Three land forms come together the same desert plains that the rover landed on two weeks ago.

Plus some harder and older bedrock and some layered out props where they think they can use that drill.

On curiosity to go inside the bedrock and really.

Understand the -- -- -- that -- the search for organic compounds can be conducted they're looking for traces of past life.

But they've also been blasting the surface I guess they've -- sort of -- -- trial of this laser what do they hope to learn from matter or use that has to accomplish.

That's a pretty amazing instrument for analyzing rock composition it's not a Buck Rogers laser gun.

And it -- as us tiny spark of the rock surface and measuring that cloud with a spectrometer and telescope you can actually tell what.

Glowing elements -- and that -- and -- the analysis remotely without having to drill or even bring a sample into the -- So it tells you what the martian surface or that particular point of the martian surface is made up.

Now with a geologists say you can tell from the elemental breakdown of that rock what that a good guesses as to the -- morality.

If you really want to know what mineral is there and what the water content -- and what organic compounds are in.

Place you have to grab a sample and put it into the chemistry lab on the back of the curiosity.

He -- -- we've always been concerned about invasions from Mars you know that was the big the big worry in this country now we've we're out there blasting the martian surface with.

With a laser gun so.

We're gonna I think improving and scratching that's the idea here if there is life on Mars they're going to be pretty ticked.

Thanks very much of your -- --

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