By 
May 6th, 2020
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 2754, May 5, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2755 tasks.
A minor issue with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument caused rover arm activities to stop prior to drilling at the “Glasgow” target. However, new imagery shows that issue resolved and drilling appears to have taken place.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2754, May 5, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center, reports that a plan for Sols 2754-2755 is devoted to drilling, and the second sol is packed with remote sensing activities.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2754, May 5, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Trough feature
“On the second sol, the remote sensing activities start with a Navcam dust devil movie and dust devil survey, and Navcam line-of-sight observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere,” Edgar reports. “Then Mastcam will take a multispectral observation of the drill hole, followed by a Mastcam mosaic of a trough feature to document surface processes.”
The robot’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) has a number of activities including observations of the bedrock targets “Marygold” and “Murra,” a Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) z-stack observation of the drill hole to help with future targeting, and a ChemCam pointing test, Edgar adds.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 2753, May 4, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Mastcam will also document the ChemCam targets,” Edgar concludes. “Fingers crossed for a good day on Mars to see those new drill hole images!”
Posted in Space News
