20130226

Astronomy current events question: Curiosity rover night photos

Astronomy 210L, spring semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)
Guy Webster, "Mars Rover Curiosity Uses Arm Camera at Night," January 24, 2013
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130124.html
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its arm camera to take photos at night, in order to:
(A) watch a sand dune avalanche.
(B) overwrite faulty data in a memory bank.
(C) determine local light pollution conditions.
(D) use up excess energy stored from its solar panels.
(E) detect minerals that glow under ultraviolet light.

Correct answer: (E)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 0 students
(B) : 0 students
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 2 students
(E) : 48 students

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