By 
June 7th, 2022
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3495. Distance driven at that sol: 17.48 miles/28.13 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3496 tasks.
“Our drive was successful, and we ended with some lovely flat bedrock with some gorgeous veining running through it,” reports Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
As Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) payload uplink lead recently, today, O’Connell-Cooper saw several targets that the APXS team would have loved to analyze.
If you zoom in on this image, the veins are just above the arm (with the little rover graphic).This image is a mosaic of 31 images taken by Curiosity in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) on June 6, 2022, Sol 3495 at site number 95 to create a cylindrical projection.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Balmy and warm
“Sadly, the timing didn’t work in our favor today. APXS prefers temperatures below -20 C – the colder it is, the better the data quality is. But daytime temperatures in Gale are getting balmy and warm (relatively speaking!) and reaching above -20 C earlier and earlier in the day, often hitting that high by 10 am (Mars local time!),” O’Connell-Cooper explains.
Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Right image taken on Sol 3494, June 5, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Unfortunately, this has an impact on the frequency of APXS data collection.
“During the week, we typically do ‘Touch and Go’ science, meaning we analyze and then drive (on weekends, we stay for the night and drive on the second or third sol). The earliest we can start the Touch and Go right now are often later than 11 am. This means “fuzzy” spectra with noisy data for APXS, O’Connell-Cooper adds.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) produced this photo, Sol 3493, June 4, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Whilst scientists can still discern basic chemistry from the fuzzy spectra, we obviously prefer to get good quality, and so they found themselves currently passing on early morning science.
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3495, June 6, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Document the target
However, APXS’s loss is the Mars Hand Lens Imager’s (MAHLI) gain!
If APXS analyzes a target, the MAHLI uses its allotted time quota to document the target.
“Without any APXS in the plan,” O’Connell-Cooper reports, “they gain all of the time allotted to APXS (around 18 minutes), in addition to the time they would have used to document the APXS target (around 8 minutes).”
Recently, MAHLI used the bonus time to take a 3 image mosaic of “Wandapa,” centered on an amazing vein junction feature. “There are a number of long linear veins, some thinner cross cutting veins, some nodular features and pebbles, lying on the bedrock,” O’Connell-Cooper notes.
Curiosity Mast Camera Right and Left imagery taken on Sol 3494 June 5, 2022
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Veins and bedrock
The Wandapa mosaic will capture the interactions between the veins and bedrock.
Curiosity Mast Camera Right (Mastcam) acquired this image, Sol 3494, June 5, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover’s Chemistry and Camera was slated to analyze the composition of the bedrock in this area at “Mahdia” (plus Mastcam) and take some long range imaging of “Gediz Vallis” ridge, up on the pediment.
Mastcam is imaging two targets in the immediate workspace: the ChemCam target (Mahdia) and a sandy target “Karto” looking at structures in a small sand deposit in front of the rover. Two long range images “Eboropu” and “Serra Mara” look at stratigraphy and large scale structural features in the distance.
A newly scripted plan calls for Curiosity to drive around 131 feet (40 meters), aiming to end up on some bedrock for follow-up planning, O’Connell-Cooper concludes.
Posted in Space News
