A Russian neutron detector (DAN) on board NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, designed to search for any water that might be bound into shallow underground minerals along the rover's path, was activated on Friday, the Russian manufacturer said.
"The first scientific information has been received about the substance of Mars and its radiation background in the landing area," the Russian Academy of Sciences Space Research Institute said.
Curiosity successfully touched down on the Red Planet last Monday.
DAN will bring to the surface of Mars an enhancement of nuclear technology that has already detected Martian water from orbit.
By measuring the energies of the neutrons leaking from the ground, DAN can detect the fraction that was slowed in these collisions, and therefore the amount of hydrogen.
With pulses lasting about one microsecond and repeated as frequently as 10 times per second, key measurements by the detectors are the flux rate and delay time of moderated neutrons with different energy levels returning from the ground.
The generator will be able to emit a total of about 10 million pulses during the mission, with about 10 million neutrons at each pulse, NASA said.
Curiosity, the biggest and the most scientifically complex Mars rover, will gradually turn on its scientific equipment to carry out geological and geo-chemical research, to study the planet's atmosphere and climate, and to search for water and organic substances.
Its findings will help to determine whether Mars was ever a habitable planet and whether it has any suitable places for habitation now.
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