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July 30th, 2015
Image taken by Curiosity’s Front Hazcam: Left B, July 28 on Sol 1057.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars has made a “mini-start hole”, which is the name for a new type of initial drilling test, according to Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The target is called “Buckskin” and the test will drill a small hole in the rock to help determine whether it is safe to go ahead with the full hole, Anderson adds.
This image was taken by Curiosity’s Navcam: Right B on July 28, Sol 1057.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“In addition to that test, we are planning a detailed study of the target “Ch-paa-qn” which means “shining peak” in the native Salish language of northern Montana,” Anderson explains. “This target is an isolated bright patch on the nearby outcrop, and we want to figure out if it is calcium sulfate like the white veins we see nearby, or if it is something else.”
The plan includes ChemCam active and passive observations of Ch-paa-qn, along with Mastcam multispectral images.
Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm took this image on July 28, 2015, Sol 1057.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Posted in Space News
