The “Edinburgh” target (trapezoid shaped block, upper left) as viewed by Mast Camera on Sol 2700 March 11, 2020
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover recently made a small bump, moving into position to examine “Edinburgh” – a potential drill target.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo taken on Sol 2703, March 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Over last weekend, the plan called for use of the Dust Removal Tool on Edinburgh and observe the target with Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam), the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and Mastcam’s multispectral filters.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo taken on Sol 2704, March 15, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

 

Full drill or move on?

Curiosity Mast Camera Right photo taken on Sol 2703, March 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“We will analyze these observations to help make a decision on Monday about whether we want to continue with a full drill in this area or move on,” reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo taken on Sol 2704, March 15, 2020. Photo shows Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer called APXS for short. When it is placed right next to a rock or soil surface, it uses two kinds of radiation to measure the amounts and types of chemical elements that are present.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

 

Other last weekend planning involved other geology-focused activities, including ChemCam observations of targets named “Tentsmuir,” “Glen Finglas,” and “Glen Feshie,” along with a 19×2 Mastcam mosaic of the robot’s surroundings.

Measuring argon

Credit: NASA/JPL

“We will also conduct a series of environmental science investigations that include a measure of the amount of argon in the atmosphere using APXS, a dust devil survey, and several Navcam observations of far-away targets to characterize the amount of dust in the atmosphere,” Fraeman adds.

Lastly, the rover will take of number of MAHLI images of the surface in front of the Mars machinery at different angles in order to understand how reflected light behaves with different viewing geometries, Fraeman concludes.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 2703, March 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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