Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera Sol 3776 March 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3777 duties.

Monday’s planned drive positioned Curiosity with a new workspace to investigate, reports Scott VanBommel, a planetary scientist at Washington University.

“We have left the Marker Band,” VanBommel adds. “As a physicist and spectroscopist by training, I find myself looking more at the analytical data, in particular X-ray fluorescence data, acquired on rocks, than the rocks themselves. But there was something about the primary rock target in today’s workspace that kept my eyes glued.”

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera Sol 3776 March 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Waves and a rock

VanBommel says his attention was drawn not so much about the rock’s shape, but its texture.

“We’ve seen this before, sure, but there was a certain textural je ne sais quoi of this rock for me…not only the layers, but the ruffled edges. I couldn’t put my finger on what in everyday life it reminded me of, so, I did the only logical thing one can do in such a situation: ask my 5- and (nearly) 3-year-old nieces in Canada what the rock in tosol’s blog image reminded them of. They said waves and a rock, respectively,” VanBommel adds.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3776, March 21, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager Sol 3776, March 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Brush off

A recent two-sol plan (Sols 3778-3779) is focused on brushing and acquiring Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) compositional analyses of this rock, specifically one spot named “Marabitana.”

Curiosity then acquired images of the brush with Mastcam before acquiring further images of Marabitana as well as “Owenteik,” “Itapaiuna,” “Uaila,” “Mocidade,” “Xeriuini,” and “Anaua,” with Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) acquiring laser analyses of Anaua as well.

In the early afternoon when the lighting was just right, Curiosity acquired several Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) images of Marabitana, including one planned only one centimeter above the surface.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Right B image acquired on Sol 3776, March 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Active bombardment

The arm was then stowed, and Curiosity commenced a planned drive of roughly 49 feet (15 meters) in parallel with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) performing active bombardment of Mars with its neutrons. At the end of the drive, the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) snapped an image beneath the rover as Curiosity concluded its sol 3778 activities, VanBommel reports.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 3776, March 21, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3776, March 22, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The second sol of the plan contained passive analyses by DAN, automated laser targeting analyses by ChemCam, and environmental science using ChemCam, Navcam, Mastcam, and the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS).

“We shall see what Friday’s workspace has in store. I’d wager more “waves and rocks,” but I’ll defer classification to the same experts,” VanBommel concludes.