Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2787, June 8, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now carrying out Sol 2788 duties.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B photo acquired on Sol 2787, June 8, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars researchers are evaluating where best Curiosity should next wheel, reports Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Recent deliberations involved where to drive in order to maximize the view out of the front window to make planning the next drive easier, Thompson explains.

Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 2786, June 7, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity Mast Camera Right image taken on Sol 2786, June 7, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Also, trying to place Curiosity in a position where researchers will be able to image an interesting feature that from orbit “appears as though it may be a landslide that originated from the edge of the pediment cliff to the north,” Thompson adds.

Bedrock transition to pebbles

Discussions also centered on which of the features in the robot’s immediate workspace to analyze with the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument: bedrock, diagenetic features (the physical and chemical changes occurring in sediments between the times of deposition and solidification), pebbles or veins?

Curiosity Chemistry & Camera image acquired on Sol 2787, June 8, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

“The rover planner engineers managed to plan a drive that satisfied both mobility goals, and after much deliberation, the science team decided to use ChemCam to investigate the chemistry of the bedrock and a pebble in the workspace, all in one observation (‘Outer Golden Pot’),” Thompson notes.

The Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) raster will transition from bedrock onto a dark grey pebble.

Dark-colored coatings

“I had noticed some blocks with interesting dark-colored coatings in our drive direction imaging last Friday,” Thompson says, and one such block recently ended up just off to the right of the rover.

Navcam left image of the area to the right of the rover with the “Dunkeld” rock target in the middle of the image (slightly darker, triangular shaped rock).
Taken on Sol 2786, June 7, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“Although we will not get chemistry on this block (“Dunkeld”), Mastcam will image the block, and lighter-colored veins and fractured rock around it to get a higher-resolution look,” Thompson reports.

The rover’s Mastcam will also capture the ChemCam target in more detail, as well as mosaics of the possible landslide feature (“Munlochy”), the pediment cliff off to the right (north) of the rover, and a 15 x 8 frame, 360° mosaic, Thompson adds.

Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Dust devil surveys

The environmental science group planned a suite of activities including three large Navcam dust devil surveys, a Navcam dust devil movie, and Navcam deck monitoring.

The standard Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons passive (DAN) and Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) activities are also included.

Also planned is a Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite Electrical Baseline Test (EBT) designed to monitor SAM’s electrical functions will execute during the overnight.

Thompson notes that she did analyze the data downlinked from weekend observations looking at the typical bedrock chemistry (“Heather Island”) and helped identify the “Dunkeld” target. “It is always a thrill to see the new view after a drive, and today did not disappoint.”