By 
May 10th, 2024
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is on the move at Gale Crater.
Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reports on recent activities of the robot.
“We planned quite a drive on Wednesday, with lots of twists and turns over very bumpy terrain, Fraeman says.
The team was gratified to learn everything completed as planned given data from a recent downlink from Curiosity.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Big decision
“The successful drive means Curiosity is now parked on the south side of Pinnacle Ridge, the final area of upper Gediz Vallis ridge that we planned to investigate before we cross Gediz Vallis channel,” Fraeman reports. “We visited the north side of Pinnacle Ridge last week and collected all sorts of data that tell us a lot about the composition and textures of the rocks that form the ridge.”
Fraeman adds that a recent big decision was at hand.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Now that Mars researchers can see that the south side of Pinnacle Ridge is traversable, should the robot drive onto it to get additional contact science data on the Gediz Vallis ridge rocks? Or should Curiosity continue to drive along Gediz Vallis channel towards a planned channel crossing spot?
“Driving onto Pinnacle Ridge at this location could give us an opportunity to learn more about the materials that make up the ridge and the role of water in this area,” Fraeman points out. “But it could also take several sols and not tell us much more than what we already learned from our investigation on the north face of Pinnacle Ridge.”
As the on-duty Long Term Planner, Fraeman spearheaded discussion of the pros and cons of this decision, dialogue that promoted team agreement.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Consensus decision
“We talked a lot about how the rocks we could see from our current location compared with the rocks we already investigated on the north side, and ultimately the roughly 25 scientists who were on the tactical operations planning group today came to a consensus decision,” Fraeman explains.
“We’d rather move on then spend more time here,” was the call.
Curiosity is to collect Mastcam observations and then continue to make its way up and along the channel, heading some 75 feet (23 meters) to the southwest.
Swirl mark of Dust Removal Tool is imaged. Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image produced on Sol 4180 May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Contact science
“Before driving away we’ll also take the opportunity to do some contact science on the rocks at our feet,” Fraeman says, with the rover using its Dust Removal Tool (DRT) followed by Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) observations on the target named “Boyden Cave.”
Also on tap, APXS and MAHLI observations on a nearby (dusty) target named “Royal Arches,” and finally a MAHLI-only target of a nearby rock named “Quarry Peak.”
Additionally, on the plan is collection of two Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam)/Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) observations of “Otter Lake,” a target very close to Royal Arches, and another nearby rock named “Nevada Falls.” A suite of environmental monitoring observations will round out the plan.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
New Martian vista
“I really love operations days like today,” Fraeman reports. “We came in this morning with a completely new Martian vista to admire, and then we had to work together as a team to make a quick decision about what to do next.”
“I think the pace of this decision making, the ability to talk through tough choices with a group of really smart, passionate people, and the realization that these decisions are guiding the course of a one-ton vehicle on an entirely different planet is one of the coolest ways to spend a morning,” Fraeman concludes.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) image produced on Sol 4180 May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 4180, May 10, 2024.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Posted in Space News
