Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3447. Distance driven to that time is 17.11 miles/27.54 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3449 duties.

“Due to some complex terrain, the rover’s last drive came up about ten meters short of the target destination,” reports Mariah Baker, a planetary geologist at the Center for Earth & Planetary Studies within the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3448, April 18, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“The rover’s unexpected parking orientation unfortunately will not allow our usual uplink direct from Earth. We can instead send the weekend’s commands through one of the orbiters at Mars, but a little later than planned,” Baker adds.

Sand and rocks

As a result, a recently scripted plan for Sols 3446-3448 had to be adjusted accordingly. Weekend plans typically include three sols of science, Baker notes, but all the activities for this last weekend had to occur with the second and third sols only.

Re-imaging wheel tracks that the rover made during its initial traverse of this area over a month ago. This image was taken by Left Navigation camera on Sol 3444. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Luckily, the primary targeted science block on the second sol was increased from one hour to two hours, providing ample time to acquire data at this location before driving away, Baker pointed out.

This block was filled with remote science activities to characterize sand and rocks in the rover’s workspace.

Sedimentary textures

A Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) activity was planned on bedrock target “Easter Skeld,” and two ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaics will be used to target the distant Gediz Vallis Ridge.

Three Mastcam stereo mosaics were planned to document the surface around the LIBS target, Baker explains, to characterize some nearby sand ripples, and to extend coverage over interesting sedimentary textures in the target “Lugar Rocking Stone.”

Curiosity’s Mastcam will also be used to re-image wheel tracks that the rover made during its initial traverse of this area over a month ago to search for any wind-driven changes in the tracks.

Mast Camera Left and Right images taken on Sol 3447 April 17, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Untargeted science block

The untargeted science block on the third sol also contains a single ChemCam AEGIS observation. AEGIS stands for Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) – a software suite that permits the rover to autonomously detect and prioritize targets.

The team decided to forego weekend Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) activities due to the changes in the plan, but three sets of Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos were still scheduled on soil target “Bains Beach,” a small rock named “Spiggie Beach,” and one of the rover’s wheels.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3447, April 17, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Environmental conditions

Over the weekend, the rover was scheduled to also collect a large amount of data on current environmental conditions.

The team planned three Mastcam “tau” images, a Mastcam image of the crater rim, and a Navcam “Line of Sight” image, all of which will be used to quantify the amount of dust in the atmosphere, Baker reports.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3447, April 17, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

A Navcam dust devil movie was also slated to be acquired, and four Navcam movies will help characterize cloud motion.

“So, although today’s plan is not necessarily typical for a weekend on Mars,” Baker concludes, the rover still had a full workload.