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June 1st, 2022
Curiosity’s location as of Sol 3489. Distance driven to date at that Sol: 17.44 miles/28.06 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is wrapping up Sol 3490 duties.
The rover recently made a steep, albeit short, climb, reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Curiosity drivers continue to assess the terrain the robot will cross in an upcoming drive.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity took 29 images on May 31, 2022, Sol 3489, in Gale Crater using its mast-mounted Right Navigation Camera (Navcam) to create this mosaic.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A recent drive pushed the robot to crest onto a plateau and it was slated to finish climbing a small but steep slope.
Paved road
“The topography,” Fraeman adds, “actually reminds me a little bit of our ascent onto Vera Rubin ridge several years ago, where we similarly crested a steep slope onto a local flat expanse.”
You can get a sense of the rover’s non-horizontal position by looking at its orientation with respect to the ground in this image using its Left Navigation Camera way back on Sol 1809 (2017-09-07), site number 65.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity starts the plan parked at an impressive 17˚ pitch (front up) and 17˚ roll (left up) for a total 24˚ tilt, Fraeman points out. “Even though this slope is getting close to the limit of what Curiosity can traverse, we don’t think we’ll have any problems unstowing the arm or driving the rest of the way to the top because of the terrain we’re on – nice smooth bedrock with only a thin sand cover is almost the Martian equivalent of a paved road.”
Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Left image taken on Sol 3489, May 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Vein and bedrock targets
Outside of the drive, Curiosity is on tap to continue documenting the surrounding geology and environment.
A newly scripted plan has the rover collecting Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) observations of a vein target named “Lago Esmeralda” and bedrock target named “Lago de Rei,” as well as some long distance Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaics of a part of the “Bolivar” mound.
“We’ll also grab some more Mastcam images of Bolivar, as well as several significant outcrops around the rover,” Fraeman reports.
Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Left image taken on Sol 3489, May 31, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Rounding out the plan
Dust Removal Tool, up close in this Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Right photo acquired on Sol 3489, May 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) was slated to also participate in the science action, with observations of a Dust Removal Tool’ed bedrock target named “Parepona” and vein target named “Cabadiscana,” and also be use MAHLI to image the Curiosity wheels at the start of the new drive.
Dust Removal Tool action in this Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3488, May 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Several Mastcam and Navcam observations designed to monitor the environment will round out the plan, Fraeman concludes.
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.
Curiosity Mast Camera (Mastcam) Right image taken on Sol 3488, May 30, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
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