In the 60s and 70s , America spend $ 109 billion on getting rocks from the Moon back to Earth * . In 2012 , America spent a duo trillion on moving an Earth ’s rock music to Mars * * . Moving rocks is a circle of fun !
Yes , there ’s a piece of America on Mars now , people . America , f*ck yeah ! Of course , you’re able to argue that all the rovers and landers on the surface of Mars are ( processed ) pieces of America . They are United States ’ territories . vagabond territory , like the Nimitz . But this is dissimilar . This is an actual slice of soil . This is the country of origin . Basaltic rock über alles . Heck , settlers built farms and spread and towns on this man of rock — a basaltic rock from lava flow found near Socorro , New Mexico ! This is the land of the free on the Earth’s surface of another major planet . Those damn immigrant Martian bacterias better do n’t get anywhere near this piece of land . I wonder if any bacteria born on that rock candy will have US passport .
But I digress . Why did NASA put this rock on Mars ? Easy : it “ dish out as a standardisation quarry carry on the front of NASA ’s Mars rover Curiosity for the rover ’s Canadian - made Alpha Particle X - Ray Spectrometer ( APXS ) musical instrument . ”
The APXS instrument is design to find chemic constituent in Martian rocks and soil . It uses Cm to emit up-and-coming alpha subatomic particle and X - ray . When exposed to these , the soil and rock sample emit unlike kinds of tenner - rays based on their composition , which get observe by the instrument , giving NASA a precise list of ingredients . [ NASA ]
Among many other thing .
- Among many other things .
MarsRock
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