Curiosity zaps bizarre pyramid rock with onboard lasers - PHOTOS

It was a rock so oddly shaped that it prompted Nasa to name it after a much loved employee who recently passed away.

Now the pyramid shaped 'Jake Matijevic' rock has been the first test of Curiosity's most advanced analysis instruments.

The rover used its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)for the first time in a bid to find out what the rock was made of.

After a short drive the preceding day to get within arm’s reach of the football-size rock, Curiosity put its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument in contact with the rock during the rover’s 46th Martian day, or sol.

The APXS is on a turret at the end of the rover’s 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), on the same turret, was used for close-up inspection of the rock (below).

The rock has been named 'Jake Matijevic' after a Nasa employee who recently passed away.

The space agency has previously renamed the rover's landing site as 'Bradbury Landing' after the late sci-fi author Ray Bradbury.

Both instruments were also used on Jake Matijevic on Sol 47 (Sept. 23).

The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, which shoots laser pulses at a target from the top of Curiosity’s mast, also assessed what chemical elements are in the rock.

Using both APXS and ChemCam on this rock provides a cross calibration of the two instruments.

With a final ChemCam laser testing of the rock on Sol 48 (Sept. 24), Curiosity finished its work on Jake Matijevic.

Engineers revealed that the target rock has a relatively smooth, gray surface with some glinty facets reflecting sunlight and reddish dust collecting in recesses in the rock.

Jake Matijevic is a dark, apparently uniform rock that was selected as a desirable target because it allowed the science team to compare results of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument and the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, both of which provide information about the chemical elements in a target.

APXS, like MAHLI, is on the turret at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm.

It is placed in contact with a rock to take a reading.

ChemCam shoots laser pulses at a target from the top of the rover's mast.

Jake Matijevic was also the first rock target for MAHLI, which was deployed to document the APXS and ChemCam analysis areas.

The rover departed the same sol, with a drive of about 138 feet (42 meters), its longest yet.

Curiosity landed on Mars seven weeks ago to begin a two-year mission using 10 instruments to assess whether a carefully chosen study area inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.


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