By 
June 2nd, 2020
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2780, June 1, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2781 duties.
Recent planning calls for the robot wheeling more than 1.5 kilometers – driving to the next major unit of Mt. Sharp, the “sulfate-bearing” unit.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image acquired on Sol 2780, June 1, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“During this traverse the focus will be on driving as far as we can each sol, but we’ll still be doing plenty of science along the way,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2780, June 1, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Polygonal patterns
Sol 2781 begins with Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of smooth bedrock at the target “Beaconsfield” and nodular bedrock at the target “Pict.”
The rover’s Mastcam will then document the ChemCam targets and collect a stereo mosaic of some nearby polygonal patterns. Navcam will then study atmospheric dust and take a mosaic of the rover deck.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2780, June 1, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Driving on autonav
“After that the rover will drive as far as possible,” Anderson adds, “first using our usual driving mode and then using the rover’s “autonav” capability. Autonav uses the onboard computer to map the terrain so the rover can carefully continue driving farther than our current images can see well. It has been a while since we used autonav, but we’re using all the tools at our disposal to make progress toward the sulfate unit.”
Curiosity’s Navcam will take some images during and after the drive. After the drive Mastcam will make some atmospheric observations and take an image of the ground to monitor soils and rocks during the drive.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2780, June 1, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will also document the ground beneath the rover.
Autonomously targeted observation
“On Sol 2782, Navcam will observe the rover deck again, as well as watch for dust devils, and ChemCam will make an autonomously targeted observation,” Anderson says.
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo acquired on Sol 2779, May 31, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo acquired on Sol 2779, May 31, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Also, the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) will do an overnight observation of an empty cell (this gives a baseline to compare with when analyzing samples later on), Anderson concludes.
Posted in Space News
