Curiosity Blogs: Sols 2931-2932: Stop and Go
Curiosity is on the road to the sulfate unit, but there are always stops on a road trip. The drive did not finish in the weekend plan, so today’s plan will include re-sequencing that drive. However, the operations team always keeps going and they created an impressive plan that includes contact science, remote science, and a drive.
The shortened drive placed the rover in a location surrounded by pebbles and loose soil, so the APXS and MAHLI target, “Rachan,” is a pebble near the rover. The ChemCam target, “Lee,” is a different pebble near the rover. It is always good to document the composition of the terrain, even if that means targeting a lot of pebbles! Several Mastcam mosaics are planned that cover the rocks carved into benches Curiosity will explore over the next few weeks. There will also be a dust devil movie in an attempt to spot more dust devils during this windy season.
In addition, the image shown above is from the Hedgehope Hill MAHLI mosaic taken last week. I wasn’t on shift for today’s busy plan but I was pretty busy last week when I helped plan this mosaic. This gorgeous observation is part of a “dog’s eye” mosaic (where MAHLI gets down low to the ground to look at the side of a rock) that will help scientists learn how the sediment in this rock was deposited. https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/854315/?site=msl