Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo taken on Sol 2822, July 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now conducting Sol 2822 duties.

The rover continues to drive towards a next potential drill location, the first planned pit stop on its summer road trip, reports Mariah Baker, a planetary geologist at the Center for Earth & Planetary Studies, Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

By the time Curiosity arrives at the designated drill area, the robot will have travelled over 14 miles (23 kilometers) since landing on Mars in August 2012.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo taken on Sol 2822, July 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Jagged rocks

“But driving across the rocky Martian surface isn’t always easy; sharp obstacles and jagged rocks have caused some minor damage to the rover’s wheels over the years,” notes Baker.

In order to check on the condition of the wheels and track their degradation over time, the team periodically images them with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera. “As it happens, we are due for a new set of wheel images, so today’s “drive” is a bit unique: the rover will only travel a little over a meter, just enough to image one full rotation of the wheels.”

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo taken on Sol 2822, July 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Bedrock targets

Before this unusually short drive, Curiosity is slated to acquire data on the local geology; bedrock targets “Cateran Trail” and “Cowal Way” will be targeted with the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument and imaged with Mastcam for documentation purposes.

Mastcam will also capture stereo mosaics of nearby features of interest named “Fife Coastal Path” (a rock fracture) and “Glenfinnan Viaduct” (tilted rocks).

Baker adds that the robot’s Navcam will also be used to image sediment that has accumulated on the rover deck.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo taken on Sol 2822, July 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

 Strategic path

After the wheel imaging, standard post-drive images will be acquired with Hazcam, Navcam, and Mastcam. There will also be two ChemCam Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) observations and two larger Mastcam mosaics, one of the rover’s target drill area and one of a more distant geologic contact.

Lastly, three observations (two with Navcam and one with Mastcam) will be used to monitor dust activity in Gale crater.

“Although our wheels have suffered some damage over the years, they’re still very capable of taking us where we need to go and we continue to make good progress on our strategic path,” Baker concludes. “We expect to arrive at our designated drill location by the weekend, and we will be back on the road once our drill is complete!”