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.
“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”.
“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.
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.