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November 24th, 2020
Curiosity rolled up a particularly steep (roughly 20 degrees) slope. Image taken by rover’s Left Navigation Camera on Sol 2950 November 23, 2020
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2952 tasks.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image acquired on Sol 2951, November 24, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Our weekend drive stopped a bit shorter than planned when Curiosity played it safe rolling up a particularly steep (~20 degrees) slope,” reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland. But even with the rover parked at a tilt, we could still accomplish all our desired science at this stage of our drive back up Mount Sharp.”
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2951, November 24, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Texture and chemistry
A recent plan calls for making another observation of rock texture and chemistry with the robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), respectively, of “Saughieside Hill,” part of the bedrock making up the arcuate benches the rover has been traversing over the last couple of weeks.
The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) will measure the chemistry of another nearby bedrock target, “Gathersnow Hill,” which sits at the edge of the lip that halted Curiosity’s drive, Minitti explains.
Mastcam is set to image the layered structure of Gathersnow Hill in stereo, and more broadly, will acquire mosaics that capture the structures of the bedrock both behind and ahead of the rover.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 2951, November 24, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Minitti adds that ChemCam gets in on the imaging action, taking a small Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) mosaic of stratigraphic features in the target “Hamar.”
Drive ahead
“After a roughly 30 meters drive [98 feet], Curiosity will image the area around her with Navcam and Mastcam in preparation for activities over the upcoming American Thanksgiving long weekend,” Minitti says, “as well as the sky with a late day Mastcam image to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere and a Navcam movie looking for clouds.”
“On Sol 2952, we will acquire an autonomously-targeted ChemCam analysis of the bedrock near the rover at our new post-drive location, a midday Navcam measurement of the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and a Navcam movie looking for clouds,” Minitti reports.
Curiosity Rear Hazard Avoidance Left B Camera image taken on Sol 2950, November 23, 2020.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Monitoring extravaganza
On the final sol of the 2951-2953 plan, Mars researchers are slated to have an environmental monitoring extravaganza with a ChemCam passive observation of the sky, Navcam and Mastcam measurements of the amount of dust in the atmosphere, Navcam images and movies to look for dust devils, and an APXS measurement of atmospheric argon,” Minitti adds.
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN), Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) measurements run regularly across the three sols of the plan.
“All told, Curiosity will stay as busy as a shopper hitting those early Black Friday deals,” Minitti concludes.
Posted in Space News
