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Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 2852, August 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now drawing closure on Sol 2852 tasks.

Recent images of the “Mary Anning” drill hole, have sparked the Mars science team’s interest for both scientific and operational reasons, reports Mariah Baker, Planetary Geologist at the Center for Earth & Planetary Studies in the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Images have revealed that wind is steadily eroding the fine material that originally surrounded the drill hole, providing observational evidence that the robot has again entered the windy season in Gale crater.

“As exciting as this is for those of us who study wind and have been patiently awaiting the return of the windy season,” Baker adds, “it is also important for the operations team. When we determine that wind is blowing material around on the surface, certain steps need to be taken to ensure safe and successful data collection.”

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera RMI produced on Sol 2852, August 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

Dump pile

Timely assessment of wind activity is especially valuable when Mars researchers are trying to study fine material that is susceptible to being blown away, “both because wind-induced movement can impact our measurements but also because we don’t want any material blowing onto our instruments when we put them in close proximity to the surface,” Baker points out.

As a major component of a new plan is creating and analyzing a dump pile of fine drilled material, the Mars scientists had to carefully consider the wind conditions and adjust the plan accordingly.

“But a little wind wasn’t going to deter us,” Baker adds. “The team pushed on, scheduling almost two hours’ worth of science observations aimed at studying features both near and far. Within the immediate workspace, efforts will focus on the drill hole and the dump pile that will be created on the first sol of the plan.”

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B image taken on Sol 2852, August 14, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Wind-induced accumulation

The drill hole will be targeted with the Chemistry and Camera’s (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument and imaged with Mastcam in order to confirm that the laser hit the intended target.

This Mastcam image will also be added to the set of drill hole images already acquired, allowing the science team to continue monitoring wind activity at the robot’s current locale.

Similarly, a single Mastcam image of the rover deck (which is acquired regularly by the team) will be used to track wind-induced accumulation of sand on the deck.

Distant targets

The dump pile will be studied with Mastcam multispectral images, as well as with the rover’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), but the closest-approach MAHLI images will be taken with the cover on in order to keep the camera safe from wind-blown material, Baker notes.

A ChemCam depth profile observation and Mastcam documentation image will also be acquired on target “Ayton,” which is located on the same bedrock slab as the drill hole and dump pile.

Two distant targets also captured the team’s attention: a light-toned area of the Vera Rubin Ridge will be analyzed with a Mastcam multispectral observation and a long-distance ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI), and Mount Sharp’s sulfate unit will be targeted with a second long-distance ChemCam RMI.

Quickly-changing conditions

Three rover Navcam observations aimed at assessing dust and cloud activity (a dust devil movie, a line-of-sight image, and a suprahorizon cloud movie) were also included in this large science block. Two additional environmental observations, a Mastcam tau image and a Navcam zenith movie, were also planned for later in the day when lighting conditions were more optimal.

“Although uncontrollable factors such as wind can pose an additional challenge for rover operations,” Baker concludes, “it’s nothing we can’t handle. Doing science on another planet often requires adapting to quickly-changing conditions, and the rover team is very accustomed to working around whatever is thrown – or blown – at us.”

Overnight measurement

Meanwhile, Vivian Sun, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory also reports that, over this weekend, Curiosity will focus on wrapping up the sequence of drill-related activities at the Mary Anning target while the team considers if they want to drill a second location here.

The Chemical and Mineralogy instrument, or CheMin for short, performs chemical analysis of powdered rock samples to identify the types and amounts of different minerals that are present.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“On sol 2853, APXS will make a long overnight observation of the drill tailings, giving us a detailed look at the chemical composition of this rock,” Sun explains. “The next day on sol 2854, CheMin will have its turn at a long overnight measurement to determine the mineralogy of Mary Anning.”

History of the rocks

On sol 2853, APXS will make a long overnight observation of the drill tailings, giving us a detailed look at the chemical composition of this rock.

The next day on sol 2854, the rover’s Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) will have its turn at a long overnight measurement to determine the mineralogy of Mary Anning.

“ChemCam will also make a passive observation of the sample dump pile,” Sun says, “adding to our rich collection of remote sensing observations characterizing: the pre-drilled surface, the drill hole and drill tailings, and now the dump pile. The extensive documentation that we do in all drill campaigns, involving both arm and mast instruments to study the drill hole and surrounding environment, goes a long way in helping scientists understand the history of these rocks and how they formed.”

GIMBAL
Credit: DOD/U.S. Navy/Inside Outer Space screengrab

A U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) release today notes that on August 4, 2020, Deputy Secretary of Defense David L. Norquist approved the establishment of an Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Task Force (UAPTF). 

The Department of the Navy, under the cognizance of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security, will lead the UAPTF. 

Nature and origins

“The Department of Defense established the UAPTF to improve its understanding of, and gain insight into, the nature and origins of UAPs.  The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security,” explains the DoD statement.

GOFAST
Credit: DOD/U.S. Navy/Inside Outer Space screengrab

DOD has stated previously, the statement continues, “the safety of our personnel and the security of our operations are of paramount concern. The Department of Defense and the military departments take any incursions by unauthorized aircraft into our training ranges or designated airspace very seriously and examine each report. This includes examinations of incursions that are initially reported as UAP when the observer cannot immediately identify what he or she is observing.”

NASA’s InSight Mars lander acquired this image using its robotic arm-mounted, Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on August 14, 2020, Sol 610.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

InSight’s first full selfie on Mars comprised of 11 photos stitched together to make this mosaic, created on December 6, 2018 (Sol 10).
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

That troubled “Mole” heat probe on NASA’s InSight Mars mission is presently fully covered with Martian sand. The plan now calls for the Mole to be pushed a little deeper into the ground with the continued help of the spacecraft’s robotic scoop.

The save the Mole script calls for not pressing the Mole with the robotic arm’s blade, but with the shovel at an angle of 20 to 30 degrees with respect to the surface.

Reports Tilman Spohn, the Mole leader at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin:

“However, because we can only operate once a week – mostly for cost reasons – this will take another while. Our first operation, bringing the Mole still a few centimeters deeper in has begun and should be finished in about a month time.”

NASA’s InSight Mars lander acquired this image using its robotic arm-mounted, Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on October 27, 2019, Sol 326.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Balancing force

Following that month there will be a test of whether the Mole is moving on its own.

“Should that test not provide the required result we will move to the final activities of filling the Mole hole completely and press on the sand in the filled hole. That operation should definitely provide the necessary balancing force but may take another 2-3 months,” Spohn adds. “Having the mole deeper in will still be of advantage should we need to go to filling the hole entirely.”

InSight mole specialists and technicians at Jet Propulsion Laboratory have developed and have implemented strategies to get the mole moving again. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

“I think, at the latest after filling the pit,” Spohn explains, “we should be able to counter the recoil with sufficient force and the Mole will hopefully ‘dig’ deeper into the Martian soil on its own.”

Recent measurement

As a supporting indication, Spohn notes that a recent measurement of the thermal conductance from the Mole to the regolith shows increased values over earlier measurements.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“This suggests that both the thermal and mechanical contact have improved,” Spohn concludes. “So we’re feeling optimistic!”

Designed to burrow in as much as 16 feet (5 meters) underground to gauge the heat escaping from the Red Planet’s interior, the Mole has only been able to partially bury itself since it started hammering…way back in February 2018.

InSight landed on November 26, 2018, softly touching down within the smooth plains of Elysium Planitia. The goal of the mission is to study the interior of Mars and take the planet’s vital signs, its pulse, and temperature.

Credit: Ashari/Hargens

If a crew is heading off to Mars, who wears the pants in this family of explorers?

It might be everyone given new research on a Mobile Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) Gravity Suit for Long-Duration Spaceflight.

The suit is the result of NASA-sponsored work led by Neeki Ashari and Alan Hargens, both with the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego, California.

The research has recently been published in the journal, Frontiers in Physiology.

Credit: Ashari/Hargens

Reduced bone density, muscle force

On Earth, gravity is responsible for supplying resistance in our everyday life. But then there’s spaceflight-associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome, previously known as Visual Impairment Intracranial Pressure. It is a major risk associated with long-duration spaceflight.

Due to the lack of gravity in space travel, a headward shift of blood and other body fluids is caused. As a result, astronauts experience a mild, but constant elevation of intracranial pressure (ICP) unlike alterations of ICP with posture on Earth.

Also, long-term microgravity exposure is responsible for the reduction of mechanical loads, which reduce bone density, and muscle force generation.

Furthermore, an astronaut’s movement between modules, aerobic activity, and extra-vehicular activity components contribute to musculoskeletal injuries. This becomes a major concern as astronauts return from space to weight-bearing environments, such as Earth or even potentially Mars.

Credit: Ashari/Hargens

Wanted: effective techniques

In order to minimize musculoskeletal loss and injuries, it is essential to develop effective techniques that reproduce gravitational forces for microgravity conditions, Ashari and Hargens report.

The novel gravity suit serves as a countermeasure that may maintain cardiovascular, visual, and musculoskeletal health without sacrificing crew time. Astronauts will be able to float freely in microgravity while adhering to everyday tasks. The LBNP counteracts head-ward fluid shifts and generates ground-reaction forces.

Credit: Ashari/Hargens

Civilian space travelers

Generally, LBNP devices come in the form of a horizontal chamber. But a standard LBNP chamber is extremely heavy and bulky, excluded it from any in-flight missions to the International Space Station or beyond Earth orbit.

“Once space travel becomes commercialized, this device may ensure the health of future civilian space travelers. It is important to develop effective devices, like the mobile gravity suit, that simulate the very conditions our bodies on Earth depend on. This innovation may be pivotal for the journey to Mars,” the research team explains.

For commercial, high volume use, Ashari and Hargens note there would be five different sizes (XS, SM, M, L, and XL)!

To read the full research paper – “The Mobile Lower Body Negative Pressure Gravity Suit for Long-Duration Spaceflight” – go to:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.00977/full

Post-landing of OTV-5 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility.
Courtesy Photo 45th Space Wing Public Affairs

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) has announced that the United States Department of the Air Force – Boeing X-37B team has been named as the recipient of the 2019 Robert J. Collier Trophy.

The Collier Trophy is awarded annually for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.

X-37B readied for 6th mission of the space plane program.
Credit: Boeing

The space plane has logged more than 2,865 days in orbit across five Earth-orbiting missions.

Current mission

Launched on an Atlas-V booster, an Earth-circling X-37B spaceplane is now carrying out the program’s sixth mission. The craft, also designated Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-6), was lofted on May 17, 2020.

Credit: Boeing

“The X-37B team win…exemplifies the kind of lean, agile and innovative technological development our nation needs to secure its interests,” said U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John “Jay” Raymond. “The ability to test new systems in space and return them to Earth is unique to the X-37B and enables the U.S. to more efficiently and effectively develop spacepower to maintain superiority in the space domain.”

Autonomous, reusable

NAA Chairman Jim Albaugh stated in an NAA press statement: “The X-37B team should be commended for their accomplishments over the last decade and more importantly for what they accomplished in 2019.”

As the world’s only autonomous, reusable spaceplane, Albaugh added, “it continues to contribute to our understanding of both space and air flight.”

Technicians tend Air Force X-37B space plane after tarmac touchdown.
Credit: U.S. Air Force

Record setting 

Here’s a roster of the milestone-setting missions as told to Inside Outer Space by Major Will Russell, U.S. Space Force spokesperson.

OTV-1 launched on April 22, 2010 and landed on December 3, 2010, spending over 224 days on orbit.

OTV-2 launched on March 5, 2011 and landed on June 16, 2012, spending over 468 days on orbit.

OTV-3 launched on December 11, 2012 and landed on October 17, 2014, spending over 674 days on-orbit.

OTV-4 launched on May 20, 2015 and landed on May 7, 2015, spending nearly 718 days on-orbit.

OTV-5 launched on September 7, 2017 and landed on October 27, 2019, spending nearly 780 days on-orbit.

The first four missions launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida thanks to an an Atlas-V booster. The fifth mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher.

Chang’e-4 farside mission – lander and Yutu-2 rover
Credit: CNSA/CLEP

Firstly, there’s some farside news.

China’s Chang’e-4 farside lander/rover mission is now in Moon exploration day 21.

China’s Chang’e-4 lander as viewed by Yutu-2 rover.
Credit: CNSA/CLEP

Space reporter Andrew Jones tweets that the lander resumed activities at 06:54 UTC today while Yutu-2 awoke at 12:34 July 12. Both spacecraft are reportedly operating well after a 14-day, nighttime cold soak.

Yutu-2 view of farside surroundings.
Credit: CNSA/CLEP

The Yutu-2 rover, Jones adds, will continue northwest from the landing site, “checking out relatively high reflective material in nearby craters. It will also take a panoramic shot from elevated ground between two craters.”

Chang’e-4 touched down in Von Kármán crater, within the Moon’s South Pole-Aitken basin, in December 2018.

China plans to launch the ambitious Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission later in 2020. (Image credit: Used with permission: Loren Roberts/The Planetary Society at https://www.planetary.org/)

Sample return

And while China’s Chang’e-4 rolls into another period of Moon exploration, the country is readying its Chang’e-5 lunar mission.

China appears on track to launch the Chang’e-5 sample-return mission to the Moon later this year – the third phase of the country’s lunar exploration program.

Terrane camera (TC) morning map of the Rümker region (Lambert conformal conic projection). The white
box denotes the Chang’e-5 landing region. The yellow boxes represent other locations noted in the research paper. The yellow
dashed lines denote the ejecta from Harpalus carter. The blue dashed lines denote ejecta from Pythagoras crater. The
green dashed lines denote ejecta probably from Copernicus crater. Credit: Qian, et al.

The Chang’e-5 mission is comprised of four parts: the orbiter, ascender, lander, and Earth reentry module containing the lunar specimens.

Scalable approach

In many ways, the robotic milestones required for this phase of China’s lunar exploration initiative mirror those of the Apollo human landing program – suggesting a scalable approach to planting Chinese footprints on the Moon.

Apollo 15 image captures landing locale of China’s Chang’e-5 Moon lander – the Mons Rümker region in the northern part of Oceanus Procellarum.
Credit: NASA

The reported candidate landing region for China’s Chang’e‐5 lunar sample return mission is the Rümker region, located in the northern Oceanus Procellarum. The area is geologically complex and known for its volcanic activity.

If successful, China would become the third nation to haul back to Earth lunar collectibles.

Reportedly, the Chinese mission will retrieve and return to Earth up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar surface and subsurface samples.

Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt.
Credit: NASA

Picking up the pieces

In the “picking up the pieces” of the Moon column, the former Soviet Union did so by robotic means in the 1970s. Their last robotic lunar sample return mission (and last Soviet mission to the Moon) took place in 1976.

During 1969-1972, six Apollo missions placed 12 moonwalkers on the Moon that gathered 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar samples at different landing sites on the lunar surface. The stash included rocks, core samples, lunar soil and dust.

Credit: Saturn Ring Skimmer Mission Concept team

A possible next step to explore Saturn’s rings, atmosphere, interior, and inner magnetosphere is the Saturn Ring Skimmer mission concept.

The mission would be a ballistic tour that passes repeatedly at low altitude over Saturn’s main rings. In the span of only 162 days, and without using any propellant, one possible tour covers the main ring regions in 13 low-altitude passes. But nothing prevents a much longer ring-skimming tour from being designed.

Artistic view of Cassini exploring Saturn.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A spacecraft following this trajectory would get roughly 100 times closer to the rings than NASA’s Cassini mission when its best ring images were taken. Cassini was launched in 1997, ending its 13-year tour of the ringed planet in mid-September 2017.

Proximity to the rings

The promise of the Skimmer would be obtaining images with far better spatial resolution. In addition, the spacecraft’s proximity to the rings allows for on-the-spot measurements of the material surrounding the rings, including the ring’s tenuous atmosphere, dust released by collisions into the ring particles or levitated by electromagnetic forces, and material flowing along magnetic field lines from the rings into the planet.

Cassini spacecraft obtained the images that comprise this mosaic. The Cassini mission was a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

In addition, the spacecraft will be close enough to the rings for it to feel their gravity, enabling the mass density to be mapped at higher fidelity than previously possible. At the same time, the spacecraft gets close to Saturn itself many times, allowing for repeated measurements of the planet’s asymmetric gravitational field, high-resolution images of its atmospheric clouds, and in-situ observations of the inner magnetosphere.

High-level science

Advocates of a Ring-Skimmer mission suggest it is able to address a wide range of high-level science goals that are relevant not only to Saturn and its rings, but also to giant planets and astrophysical disks in general. Supporters of the idea see it as a potential option for NASA’s New Frontiers program.

A white paper on the concept is to be submitted to the 2023 Planetary Science Decadal Survey.

As for the idea moving from white paper to reality…well, it’s a ring toss.

The “Mary Anning” drill area as seen by Curiosity’s left navigation camera on Sol 2843, August 5, 2020. The “Ayton” target is towards the top left corner of the same block that the drill hole is in.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2850 duties.

Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick: Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada reports that Mars researchers are making a wish list on Mars.

“We are keeping a list of observations we would like to make before we leave the ‘Mary Anning’  drill site,” Thompson says.

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo acquired on Sol 2848, August 10, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

Conserve power

The reason is advanced by trying to conserve power in order to complete all the upcoming Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite activities on the Mary Anning drilled sample.

“We are only able to plan roughly 30 minutes of science observations,” Thompson adds. “It doesn’t take long to come up with 30 minutes worth of observations at this interesting location, hence our wish list!”

Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 2849, August 11, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

When this plan is uplinked, Curiosity will spend the 30 minutes of science time using the rover’s Mastcam to:

1) image the drill site, to monitor movement of drill fines and sand during this windy period on Mars, and

2) extend imaging of the drill site area.

Dumping grounds

“The majority of other activities will be centered around preparing the Sample Acquisition, Processing and Handling (SA/SPaH) system to dump the remaining Mary Anning drilled sample in the next plan.

A Navcam dust devil survey and standard background use of the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) and the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) are also included in this plan.

Thompson notes that, with sample still in SA/SPaH, scientists are unable to use the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) until the drilled sample is dumped.

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2848, August 10, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Extra observation

“We will analyze the Mary Anning drilled sample (both the material dumped from SA/SPaH, and the powder surrounding the drilled hole) as part of our standard, upcoming drill-related activities,” Thompson reports. “However, we are also hoping to squeeze in an extra observation of a close by, compositionally and texturally interesting area, previously analyzed by the robot’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) of target “Ayton.”

“We have to take into consideration power, timing, how complex the proposed activity is, etc.),” Thompson notes. “We’ll have to see how many activities we get to cross off our wish list before we leave here!”

As always, dates of planned rover activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Credit: Shanmuga Subramanian via Twitter

A recent claim that India’s Pragyan Rover may have survived the crash of the Vikram Moon lander in September 2019 appears not to be the case.

Shanmuga Subramanian, an IT developer, suggested that the rover may have moved at least a few meters away from the Vikram lander after the failed landing.

India’s lunar lander impact point is near center of image and stands out due to the dark rays and bright outer halo. Note the dark streak and debris about 100 meters to the south, south east of the impact point. Diagonal straight lines are uncorrected background artifacts.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

To his credit, the eagle-eyed Subramanian received bonus points by NASA and others for first spotting the Vikram lander debris on the Moon.

Pre-launch photo shows India’s Pragyan rover mounted on the ramp projecting from out of the sides of Vikram lunar lander.
These Chandrayaan-2 vehicles crashed near the Moon’s south polar region.
Credit: ISRO

In a recent tweet, Subramanian displayed an image (seemingly using wrongly pointed arrows to indicate this prospect) that he thought might show the rover and its tracks across the lunar landscape.

Meanwhile, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team has reviewed recent imagery of the Chandrayaan-2 lander site.

Their determination, in a message to Inside Outer Space: “There has been no new movement in objects identified as debris from the lander,” reports Mark Robinson, the principal investigator for the NASA LROC at Arizona State University in Tempe.

The small, dark nodules embedded in the “Ayton” rock shown in the Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). This image was taken on Sol 2837.
Credits NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now carrying out Sol 2849 tasks.

“Mary Anning drill target.” Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 2849, August 11, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“The most important activity for Curiosity on sol 2849 is an analysis of the “Mary Anning” drill sample with SAM’s gas chromatograph (GC) and quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS),” reports Melissa Rice, a planetary geologist at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.

“The operation of these instruments together, in what we call GCMS mode, is how we can identify the organic compounds that may be preserved in this clay-bearing outcrop. This is a big day for the Mary Anning drill campaign, and the results of the GCMS will help determine how we will continue our investigation of this site,” Rice adds.

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera photo taken on Sol 2848, August 10, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Luxury looks

During extensive drill campaigns, while Curiosity parked in one location for several weeks, the science team has ample time to scrutinize the rocks, pebbles and sands in the immediate vicinity of the rover.

“This is a luxury,” Rice notes, “because when Curiosity is driving, we usually get just a quick glimpse of the terrain in front of the rover before leaving it behind forever.”

Often, an instrument such as the robot’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) will measure the chemistry of a rock, and by the time Mars researchers have received and analyzed that chemistry data, Rice points out, that rock is just a speck in the rearview mirror.

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera RMI acquired on Sol 2847, August 9, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

“But during a drill campaign, when ChemCam reveals something interesting about a nearby target, we have the chance to follow up with more measurements,” Rice points out.

So that’s exactly what ChemCam is doing in the current plan: a double take on a rock called “Ayton.”

ChemCam’s first laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) measurement of Ayton on sol 2837 targeted the small, dark nodules embedded in the rock.

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera RMI photo acquired on Sol 2849, August 11, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

Look back

On sol 2849, ChemCam is slated to look back at Ayton for a second LIBS observation to investigate why the chemistry is so different from its surroundings.

“Although Ayton is adjacent to the Mary Anning drill target, it looks completely unrelated, as Mary Anning does not have any of those dark speckles at all,” Rice says. “It is amazing how much variability there is over such small spatial scales here – and it sure is nice to have some time to peer around and take it in!”