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June 22nd, 2019
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B photo taken on Sol 2444, June 22, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2444 science duties.
Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California reports: “Curiosity is still parked at a tilt of a little over 23˚ to examine the outcrop on top of ‘Teal Ridge.’”
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) observation of Beauly. Photo produced on June 19 2019, Sol 2441.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover’s science team has begun to pore over all the data received on Earth, and also simultaneously developed a busy plan to continue investigation of this spectacular sedimentary outcrop.
Curiosity Navcam Left B photo acquired on Sol 2444, June 22, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Finely layered target
The main activities in the sol 2443 plan was to use the robot’s Dust Removal Tool (DRT), the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) to observe a finely layered target named “Beauly,” which was imaged with MAHLI on sol 2441.
Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 2443, June 21, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
“We will also take a MAHLI and APXS observation of a second target named ‘Balnakettle.’ Outside of the contact science observations, Curiosity will take two change detection images of a target called ‘Sandyhills,’ and a 10×2 stereo Mastcam mosaic towards an area Curiosity will be driving through soon that the team has informally dubbed the ‘Visionarium’ in anticipation of the bedrock exposures that will be visible,” Fraeman adds.
Curiosity MAHLI image produced on Sol 2444, June 22, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Document the area
Also planned is use of Curiosity’s Mastcam to produce an 11×6 stereo mosaic to completely document the area around Beauly, Fraeman reports. Scientists have also planned to collect a 1×10 Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) observation of a target named “Bower.”
Curiosity MAHLI image produced on Sol 2444, June 22, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Curiosity will even squeeze in some environmental science observations with Navcam suprahorizon and zenith movies,” Fraeman concludes.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 2443, June 21, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Rear Hazcam Left B photo acquired on Sol 2444, June 22, 2019.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Posted in Space News
