
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 4143 duties.
Lauren Edgar, a planetary geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that the rover is approaching an intriguing pile of rocks called “Hinman Col” – a poorly sorted collection of clasts located along the margin of Gediz Vallis ridge.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image acquired on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars researchers were anticipating a closer look at this deposit over the recent weekend, to set up for contact science on the different rock types this week.
“In doing so, we hope to investigate where the different clasts might have come from and how this feature (which looks like a bit of a mess!) relates to the rest of Gediz Vallis ridge,” Edgar adds.

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
A clast is a fragment of geological debris: chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by physical weathering.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bedrock science
A recently plotted out plan for Sols 4141-4143 is focused on contact science on the bedrock in the robot’s workspace, remote sensing to understand the rover’s surroundings, and a short bump to prepare for contact science at Hinman Col this week.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Before we get to Hinman Col, we have another opportunity to assess the light-toned, laminated bedrock in our workspace,” Edgar points out.
The science team planned three contact science targets, including use of the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), THE Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on the target “Rose Lake” to assess the chemistry and textures in typical bedrock.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“We also planned a MAHLI stereo mosaic on ‘Whorl Mountain’ to model the rock surface and study bedding orientations around some disrupted laminations,” Edgar added, “and another MAHLI/APXS target called “Little Slide Canyon” to investigate the texture and composition of the more convoluted bedding.”
Layering and clast configuration
Curiosity’s geology theme group also planned Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) on two bedrock targets, “Robinson Lake” and “Ward Mountain.”
That robot task would characterize rougher and smoother parts of the local bedrock.
ChemCam will also be used to acquire long distance Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaics to assess parts of upper Gediz Vallis Ridge at the location known as “Fascination Turret.”
Meanwhile Mastcam will be busy documenting the ChemCam targets, Edgar continues, and acquiring mosaics to assess layering and clast configuration in the vertical face of “Fascination Turret.”
Short drive
“Then Curiosity will take a very short drive to get into just the right position in front of Hinman Col, hopefully with a variety of rocks in the workspace. After the drive we’ll take some post-drive imaging to prepare for future targeting,” Edgar reports.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 4142, March 31, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The third sol (4143) includes an untargeted science block, so the team planned an Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AGEIS) session – a software suite that permits the rover to autonomously detect and prioritize targets.
AEGIS activity will add to the bedrock survey of compositional variations.
“Throughout the plan, the Environmental theme group planned a lot of great monitoring activities to search for dust devils and clouds, assess atmospheric opacity, and monitor the movement of fines on the rover deck,” Edgar concludes. “Looking forward to learning more about this messy pile of rocks and unraveling the clues that they might record about their emplacement!”