Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity’s location on Sol 3413. Distance driven at this point, 17.01 miles/27.37 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3415 duties. The robot has now driven over 17 miles since landing in early August of 2012.

Over last weekend, the rover completed the planned drive with a relatively easy traverse in the pediment, reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera photo acquired on Sol 3413, March 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

With lots of bedrock in the workspace, Mars researchers quickly identified a contact science target for the robot’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), “Oosta,” that was slightly less dusty than the surrounding bedrock and nicely layered, Minitti adds.

Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3413, March 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Exposed vertical faces

“We decided not to co-target [Chemistry and Camera Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy] ChemCam LIBS with the contact science target, to take advantage of targeting some of the exposed vertical faces on the bedrock slabs around the workspace,” Minitti explains. “Many of them had lovely fine layers exposed and interesting texture apparent even in the Navcam images of the workspace. The selected vertical face got a grandiose name, “Hadrians Wall,” relative to its relatively small height.”

Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3413, March 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity’s ChemCam and Mastcam imaged other, larger features to explore the three dimensional structure of the pediment cap and Gediz Vallis Ridge.

“We had a great view of the edge of the trough and the bedding structure and varying textures therein, so Mastcam covered the topography with a large stereo mosaic ‘Youkil Quarry.’ The top of Gediz Vallis Ridge and a prominent horizon lower down its flank were the targets for two ChemCam long distance [Remote Micro-Imager] RMI mosaics,” Minitti reports.

Curiosity Mast Camera Left image taken on Sol 3413, March 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Washboard texture

After the drive, which gets the rover closer to a part of the capping unit that has a “washboard” texture from orbit, Mastcam will cover the terrain with mosaics to help with future drive planning, the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) will capture the bedrock action under Curiosity’s left front wheel, and ChemCam will shoot an autonomously-targeted raster to increase our chemistry measurements on the pediment.

Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 3413, March 13, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The bulk of our environmental observations will take place either after the drive or on the second sol of the Sol 3414-3416 plan.

Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image acquired on Sol 3414, March 14, 2022.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“We will acquire Navcam cloud movies, dust devil imaging, and dust devil movies at multiple times of day, in addition to multiple Navcam and Mastcam images to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere,” Minitti adds.

Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) passive measurements will run for a leisurely 8 hours on the first sol and 3 hours on the second sol, with an active measurement added right after the drive. The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) and Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) also run regularly, “ever the Energizer bunnies of our plans,” Minitti concludes.