By 
February 1st, 2022
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3372. Distance driven since landing: 16.81 miles/27.05 kilometers
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3374 duties.
“We continue to characterize ‘The Prow,’ which stands proud above nearby flat lying dust coated bedrock,” reports Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3373, January 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Our sedimentologists are very keen to get grain size measurements, as this can give very valuable insights into conditions at the time the sediments were laid down,” O’Connell-Cooper adds.
A change in grain size can show researchers there are changing conditions over time, so getting the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on rocks here is the highest priority so scientists can obtain a solid measurement of grain size.
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3372, January 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Underlying bedrock
“Unfortunately, the underlying bedrock is very dusty making grain size identification difficult,” O’Connell-Cooper notes, so getting the robot up close to The Prow is proving very difficult. “However, we have had a couple of lucky breaks … literally!”
Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3372, January 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Team members have identified a float block “Toron,” which broke off The Prow but whose original location up on The Prow can be identified, O’Connell-Cooper adds
A recent plan has Curiosity driving to this block, which was analyzed by the rover’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) earlier, and will hopefully be in a position to analyze grain size for The Prow.
Brushable target “Suapi”; Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3372, January 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Brushable target
“We were able to find a brushable target “Suapi” in our current workspace,” O’Connell-Cooper, explains, clearing the dust and analyzing the target with MAHLI and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS).
“Additionally, the rover wheels broke apart some bedrock as we drove to our current workspace, so we are getting a six image MAHLI mosaic on the freshly exposed ‘The Test’ bedrock target,” O’Connell-Cooper adds.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3372, January 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3372, January 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover’s ChemCam was slated to analyze the targets “Sororopan” and “Parime” in the underlying bedrock, “Yuruani” up on The Prow and “Paikwa” on the Toron block.
“We complement the geological analysis with a full suite of atmospheric measurements, monitoring dust content in the atmosphere and looking for dust devils on the horizon,” O’Connell-Cooper concludes.
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3373, January 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3373, January 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3373, January 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3373, January 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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