Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Robotic arm investigation of “Breamish.” Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 2826, July 18, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Curiosity has arrived near her next drill location and will spend the weekend analyzing a series of interesting targets in our workspace,” reports Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 2826, July 18, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“The rover will also acquire a series of high-resolution color images, both to identify a suitable drill location in the near-field and to continue its characterization of other geologic units nearby and along the rover’s drive route. These imaging efforts will mostly take place on the first day of the three-day weekend plan,” Salvatore adds.

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2825, July 17, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Rock target

Overnight on the first night, the plan calls for Curiosity to make a series of Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) chemistry measurements on the target named “Breamish,” a platy rock target with some interesting color variations.

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2825, July 17, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The second day will be dominated by Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite activities. As these activities are power-intensive, Curiosity will mostly be sleeping during its down time to recharge its batteries, Salvatore points out.

Chemical trends with depth

The third day’s science block will include a series of Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) laser ablation measurements of different rock targets, including the Breamish target, a slanted platy rock named “Harthope,” and an effort to acquire evidence for chemical trends with depth on the target named “Back Bay.”

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2825, July 17, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The next morning, Curiosity will acquire some early morning environmental images to look for clouds and to measure the atmospheric dust content.

“That will conclude Curiosity’s science efforts for the weekend,” Salvatore concludes, “and will prepare us well for next week’s planned drilling activities!”