Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1607, February 12, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is closing out Sol 1607 activities. The robot has wrapped up work on the first stop of a second phase look at the Bagnold Dunes.

The rover’s Mastcam produced images that were repeated throughout the day to look for changes in the dunes.

Sand formations

Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Remote Microscopic Imager (RMI) was focused on the target “Mapleton” and then Mastcam carried out a series of images of nearby sand formations.

Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1605, February 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“Once that was taken care of, we decided to drive back toward Ireson Hill so that we can take a closer look at some of the geology there,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

That drive equaled roughly 180 feet (55 meters) followed by post-drive imaging.

Targets of interest

In the 1605 plan, the rovers ChemCam’s laser was slated to be back in action with an analysis of the target “Carys Mills”. Mastcam was scheduled to take a supporting image of the same target, as well as a small mosaic of the target “Calderwood”.

Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, acquired this image on February 11, 2017, Sol 1606.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

 

 

“We will then continue driving around the east side of Ireson hill toward our targets of interest, ending at a rock that may be part of the hill’s capping layer,” Anderson notes.

Curiosity rover’s location as of Sol 1605, February 10, 2017.
From Sol 1604 to Sol 1605, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 71.56 feet (21.81 meters). Since touching down in Bradbury Landing in August 2012, Curiosity has driven 9.64 miles (15.52 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/University of Arizona

Dates of planned rover activities are always subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

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