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October 17th, 2022
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3624, October 16, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3625 duties.
“We are nearing the end of our drill campaign activities at Canaima,” reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Over last weekend, the plan was to analyze the drilled sample with the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument’s gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer (GC-MS).
Like the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) and SAM Evolved Gas Analysis experiments, the SAM GC-MS analysis will provide additional data about the rock’s composition, Fraeman noted.
Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Left image taken on Sol 3622, October 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“GC-MS in particular is great at showing the types of organic molecules that might be present. Since this is the last time we need to deliver drilled sample to our onboard ‘chemistry lab instruments,’ we’ll also attempt to dump sample material that remains in the drill bit assembly onto the ground,” Fraeman added.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3624, October 16, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
RAGEing on Mars
In order to preserve the life of the braking mechanisms on Curiosity’s arm, Fraeman said that the engineering team at JPL developed a new technique for “dumping samples that is gentler on the arm (no percussion) with the charming acronym of RAGE, or “Rotate to Agitate Granules for Expulsion.” So we’ll be RAGEing on Mars this weekend in between all of the science.”
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) Sol 3622 October 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Fraeman concluded that, with the power-hungry SAM activities, Mars researchers are only planning a short amount of time for additional science.
To be collected are Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations on two nearby rocks named “Manaus” and “Garimpo Cascavel,” as well as a Mastcam multispectral observation of “Dress Island” and stereo mosaic of a nearby rock named “Peluca.”
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) RMI photo acquired on Sol 3623, October 15, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
ChemCam long distance Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaics of Orinoco and several environmental science monitoring observations will round out the plan.
Posted in Space News
