Curiosity gets a gravimeter—repurposed instrument can now measure rock density

The Curiosity rover landed on Mars without a gravimeter on board. But researchers realized that its accelerometers--normally used to determine the position of the rover--could be repurposed to measure the density of the rock it was passing over. These measurements can help scientists understand how Gale Crater and Mt. Sharp came to be.

Read the paper: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6426/535

CREDITS

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editor/animator/narrator
Chris Burns

supervising producer
Sarah Crespi

script
Chris Burns
Sarah Crespi

special thanks
Kevin Lewis

camera operator
Meagan Cantwell

citation
K. W. Lewis et al., Science 2019
DOI: 10.1126/science.aat0738

curiosity photos/footage
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS

mars atmosphere animation
NASA/MAVEN/Lunar and Planetary Institute

music
Chris Burns