Curiosity Rover Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM

  • Released Monday, December 3rd, 2012
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:52PM
  • ID: 20193

NASA's Curiosity rover analyzed its first solid sample of Mars with a variety of instruments, including the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., SAM is a portable chemistry lab tucked inside the Curiosity rover. SAM examines the chemistry of samples it ingests, checking particularly for chemistry relevant to whether an environment can support or could have supported life. Learn more about how SAM processes samples by watching this video!



Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab


Missions

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Tapes

This visualization originally appeared on the following tapes:
  • Curiosity Rover Shakes, Bakes, and Tastes Mars with SAM (ID: 2012125)
    Monday, December 3, 2012 at 5:00AM
    Produced by - Brendan Antiochos