By 
January 27th, 2023
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3723, January 26, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3724 duties.
Susanne Schwenzer, a planetary geologist at The Open University; Milton Keynes, U.K., reports that recent planning started with a discussion where the robot should drive next.
Triple junction
“We had spotted features in the distance, including a triple junction of rock layers, and are now aiming for those, and for a large, dark rock just before that,” Schwenzer explains. “Carefully surveying each image for features that look different allows us to spot the unknown, the new, and the change, and then put all our instruments to work to understand what we see.”
Curiosity Right B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3723, January 26, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager photo produced on Sol 3723, January 26, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Schwenzer adds that, piece by piece, the picture of the geology of Gale crater grows and with it our understanding of Mars as a planet. “The triple junction is especially important, as it is expected to allow us to see how the different rock layers are related to each other.”
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B image taken on Sol 3723, January 26, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Dogs-eye view
Before the drive of Curiosity, Mars researchers will be busy at its current parking location with two Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) targets that will also be documented by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI): “El Descanso” and “Peters Mine.”
“MAHLI in addition performs a dogs-eye view to document sedimentary features on a target named ‘Semang Peak.’ All of those will add to the understanding of the chemistry and formation conditions of the differently textured rocks.”
Mastcam is to also document the various features around the rover and at a distance.
“There will be a mosaic to further look at the marker band feature,” Schwenzer notes. “Yes, that’s the rock that so far was too hard to drill, most recently as target Encanto.”
Laser strikes: Curiosity Chemistry & Camera Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo acquired on Sol 3723, January 26, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
New parking lot location
Mastcam is also slated to document an area around target “Cacao” and “Telhiero,” as well as take single frame images of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) targets “Mapiripana” and “Potaro.”
ChemCam is to also perform a long distance Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) inspection of target “Amapa.
”Atmospheric observations include a dust devil survey and horizon movie. The Curiosity Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment is to take a passive measurement, allowing investigators to get a full set of data once more, including atmospheric measurements and water in the subsurface under the rover.
Meteorite? Curiosity Mast Camera Right photo taken on Sol 3721, January 24, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
“Then the rover will drive off to Cacao, the large rock spotted at a distance, and upon arrival take a [Mars Descent Imager] (MARDI) image and a set of Navcam and Mastcam images that will allow understanding the new parking location for the planning in two days’ time,” Schwenzer concludes.
Posted in Space News
