Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1425, August 9, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Now at the start of Sol 1427, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has been busily working at the Marimba drill hole.

A second attempt to drill into Marimba went well, however, the new drill sample was not transferred to Curiosity’s Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device.

Gentle vibration

The problem was due to a recurrence of the electrical short in the percussion mechanism. Therefore, the sample was not delivered to the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) as planned, explains Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

“So we tried again on Sol 1425, this time without percussion…using only more gentle vibration,” Herkenhoff adds.

Curiosity ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager photo taken on Sol 1425, August 9, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

Back on track

The rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) were used to observe the drill hole and cuttings.

Planned activities called for dumping the pre-sieved drill sample. “After we dump the sample, we’ll acquire Mastcam, Navcam and MAHLI images to document the pile,” adds research geologist Lauren Edgar at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center.

Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1425, August 9, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“This drill site has been challenging,” Edgar notes, “but we’re back on track and ready to drive away soon!”