Another MAHLI "selfie" is planned for Sol 2922, followed by ChemCam LIBS rasters on bedrock targets "Scaraben" and "Ness."

This Front Haz Camera image from sol 2910 shows three successful drill holes on the same bedrock slab. The European and Russian space agencies are readying their own Mars rover… In addition to CheMin, ChemCam and Mastcam are also being targeted on the area around the drill hole - on “Villians,” “Vond,” and “Clibberswick” - to support the investigation into the nodules by examining local variability. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. Today's odyssey has us "fighting" (aka drilling) the bedrock to release the science at "Groken" which was turned to stone during its battle with the grim monsters "time" and "pressure!" ChemCam will add to the extensive, spectacular collection of RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area east of the rover, which reveal a real wonderland of geology within Mount Sharp. ), and planned the post-drill activities as follows: Mastcam will investigate the drill tailings with a multispectral analysis, and ChemCam will look at them with a passive observation. Curiosity or the rock? Download image ›. Mastcam will document the ChemCam targets, in addition to taking images of the CheMin inlet before and after the sample is dropped off, and a tau (atmospheric opacity) measurement for the ENV group. The latest news, images and videos from NASA's car-sized rover exploring the red planet for evidence the planet could have once supported life. And to get a head start on what the chemistry of these rocks is, ChemCam will shoot the target “Hollandstoun” on the right front face of the outcrop (centre of image) in an area that we hope to target with our contact science instruments in the next plan. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15:02 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. Although Curiosity is currently closer to home than at any point in her mission, we will still have to wait until the weekend for the results. The steady gazes of DAN, RAD and REMS remain fixed on the skies above us and subsurface below us as the other instruments do their work, continuing to build their records of the environment in Gale crater. Today that assessment was more difficult than usual because of the ~26-degree rover tilt and the proximity of the outcrop, making it a challenging day for the tactical team and a sometimes stressful one for me as SOWG Chair. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech. That leaves time for other activities in the plan, one of which is another LIBS observation on the target “Catpund.” This is on the same piece of rock and close to the drill target Groken. Relief; the downlink confirmed that the drive executed as planned, placing Curiosity ~3-4 m from the “Maybole” outcrop. But, to borrow my fellow blogger’s image of this drilling: WHO WON? We have practiced this quite a bit now, having drilled six holes in the past 9 months, three of which are on the bedrock slab in front of us (see image above). We’re keeping a sharp eye out for dust devils with both Navcam and Mastcam dust devil movies. In Wednesday’s plan, sample was delivered to CheMin for analysis in order to determine the composition of the nodules. Whilst we gaze upwards admiring the result of this “perihelic opposition” (not to be repeated until 2035), Curiosity will be hard at work, taming the “Groken,” our 29th successful drill hole on Mars. Lastly, we’re looking at local changes with Mastcam deck monitoring and change detection on the “Upper Ollach” trench target. "Mary Anning 3" is closest to the front of the image, and "Mary Anning 1" is in the center of the bedrock. Download image ›. The Curiosity rover has tools to study clues about past and present environmental conditions on Mars, including whether conditions have ever been favorable for microbial life. The planned drive tosol should place us in a prime position to interrogate the Maybole rocks for fine-scale textures with MAHLI, and chemistry with APXS, in the next plan. A planned post-drive MARDI image should also give us a sense of what the ground beneath our wheels looks like. Another MAHLI "selfie" is planned for Sol 2922, followed by ChemCam LIBS rasters on bedrock targets "Scaraben" and "Ness." Then ChemCam will measure the elemental chemistry of targets dubbed "Bister" and "Fittie" and the Right Mastcam will take documentary images of both ChemCam targets. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status. ), so there wasn’t much room in the plan for other activities. Yesterday, the engineers uplinked the commands that instruct Curiosity to drill the "Groken" target. "Groken" is the furthest away, at the top of the slab. We are finally planning to drive away after finishing up at the “Groken” drill hole location, so it was an exciting planning day for me as Science Operations Working Group (SOWG) chair.

APXS will then be placed directly on the Bablin target for a long, overnight integration, during which CheMin will return data from its most recent measurement of the "Groken" drill sample.

MAHLI will also look at the Groken drill hole tailings, which have been somewhat scattered by the wind since we created them on Sol 2910. The planning team this morning was excited to see the view ahead of Curiosity after a weekend drive away from our parking spot for the last three months. The environmental group was also busy planning observations of the atmosphere. Download image ›. Before the arm will be deployed on Sol 2925, Navcam will search for dust devils and Mastcam and Navcam will measure the opacity of dust in the atmosphere. ChemCam is also taking more high resolution RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area to help us test hypotheses and inform where we should go in the Mt. The Navcams will be used to search for dust devils and measure atmospheric extinction along with Mastcam. As the APXS strategic planner this week, I am excited at the prospect of putting the APXS down on these interesting rocks at Maybole and seeing what geochemical secrets they yield! Then, at long last, MSL will drive almost 60 meters toward. Today’s plan saw us transition into the analysis part of our drill campaign sol path. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey. Keep hitting that refresh button! Mars appears to rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west, not setting until the Sun rises again in the east. Tomorrow’s blog will know the answer, whether Groken is releasing its secrets to Curiosity! Luckily, the area that the team is most interested in from a scientific perspective appears to be reachable by the rover.

Download image ›. Since the results were interesting , the science team decided to look for ‘something new’ now by running the rest of the remaining sample through SAM for an evolved gas analysis (EGA) to tease out the intricate chemistry of the rock. Over the weekend, the rover analyzed our latest drill sample, “Groken,” with the CheMin instrument to look at what minerals it contained. Navcam right image of the right side of the “Maybole” outcrop. To better observe the textures such as bedding, laminations, any cross laminations, veins or resistant features the team planned a large Mastcam stereo mosaic of Maybole. Tomorrow’s blog will know the answer, whether Groken is releasing its secrets to Curiosity! Closest approach to Earth occurred on Oct. 6th, when Mars was a mere 38.6 million miles from Earth (closest approach in 15 years, not to be beaten until 2052) and full opposition on Oct. 13th.

Download image ›, Yesterday, the engineers uplinked the commands that instruct Curiosity to drill the "Groken" target. ChemCam will acquire chemistry from the target “Vord,” a clean, broken surface exposed during the drill activity. As we wait, ChemCam is documenting the drill hole, and some additional bedrock targets here, along a fracture in the drilled bedrock (“Fladdabister” and “Glendaruel”) and on a neighboring bedrock slab (“Melby Fish Beds”). It's been a productive and interesting drill campaign, but it will be good to get back on the road again! We are finally planning to drive away after finishing up at the “Groken” drill hole location, so it was an exciting planning day for me as Science Operations Working Group (SOWG) chair.

"Mary Anning 3" is closest to the front of the image, and "Mary Anning 1" is in the center of the bedrock. With sample delivered to SAM, we will clear the remaining sample out of the drill and have a look at the discarded sample with MAHLI and APXS.

Curiosity or the rock? Are they more cemented and harder than surrounding rocks? On Sol 2921, MAHLI will take an image of the APXS target on the sample dump pile, then ChemCam's RMI will take some images of the drill bit after it was successfully used to create three drill holes on the Mary Anning/Groken bedrock block. The rover carries: Managed by the Mars Exploration Program and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center, Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick, Written by Michelle Minitti, Planetary Geologist at Framework, Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center, Written by Fred Calef, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Written by Ashley Stroupe, Mission Operations Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Written by Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick, Written by Susanne Schwenzer, Planetary Geologist at The Open University, Planetary Geologist; Center for Earth & Planetary Studies, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum; Washington, DC, Planetary Geologist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA, Atmospheric Scientist; York University; Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Planetary Geologist; Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ, Planetary Geologist; Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ, Atmospheric Scientist; NASA/GSFC; Greenbelt, MD, Planetary Geologist; University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN, Planetary Geologist; Framework; Silver Spring, MD, Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research; Pasadena, CA, Planetary Geologist; University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Planetary Geologist; Western Washington University; Bellingham, WA, Planetary Geologist; Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ. We need to balance our science objectives with what can be achieved by the rover with respect to driving close to the rock face, safely unstowing the arm, and being able to place the MAHLI and APXS close to, or on the rock face.

The Navcams will be used to search for dust devils and measure atmospheric extinction along with Mastcam. This Front Haz Camera image from sol 2910 shows three successful drill holes on the same bedrock slab.

Do these ledges represent a slightly different rock type to the more typical low relief terrain? ENV, this being the dust devil season, plans another dust devil movie and assessment of the opacity of the atmosphere. That means it was a short but sweet day of planning for me as SOWG Chair, but I’m excited to learn what SAM thinks of this sample! Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. In the process of drilling, Curiosity broke the rock, which can sometimes happen when we are close to an edge, but still collected enough sample to perform detailed analyses. But SAM can also be pretty power-hungry (that’s what happens when you’re working day and night! Finally, MARDI will take an image of the surface behind the left front wheel during twilight. Remember that "Voyageurs" drill target? Sharp, while also wanting to understand the new drill hole results with greater fidelity. The chemistry of the Groken drill sample from APXS will be combined with the mineralogy determined by CheMin and the volatile contents determined by SAM to build a comprehensive picture of the origin and history of this part of "Gale Crater." Keep hitting that refresh button! Right now, Mars is one of the brightest objects in the sky, outshining even Jupiter (the waning Moon and late rising Venus will make it even easier to see Mars in all her glory), due to the close timing of both the Martian opposition and perihelion.