By 
October 14th, 2015
Credit: NASA/JPL/CalTech
The NASA Curiosity Mars rover is dumping and “thwacking” away on the Red Planet, explains Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Sol 1133 on Mars involved the rover dumping the “Big Sky” sample and “thwacking” CHIMRA (the Collection and Handling for in-Situ Martian Rock Analysis) to clean out any remnants of the sample.
This action was taken in preparation for the next drill sample, Edgar says, that will likely be the Greenhorn” target in today’s plan. In addition to these arm activities, the plan also included several ChemCam and Mastcam observations of “Greenhorn” and “Gallatin Pass” to assess chemical variations across a fracture.
Meanwhile, a new Curiosity selfie has been released showing the robot at “Big Sky.”
In addition, a set of new research papers has been issued via the Oct. 13, 2015 issue of Science magazine:
— Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars
— A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
These can be viewed here:
http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/science/researchpapers/
Posted in Space News
