NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, on July 4, 2024, Sol 4234 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 16:38:50 UTC. This image of the Mammoth Lakes 2 drill fines and drill hole was taken from about 25 centimeters (about 10 inches) above the surface.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Earth planning date: Friday, July 5,
2024
Curiosity will drive away from the Mammoth Lakes drill location on the
second sol of this three-sol weekend plan, but before she does, the team will
take the opportunity for one last chance at contact science in this interesting
region of the Gediz Vallis deposit. The team have noticed distinct troughs
surrounding many of the bright-toned, pitted blocks in this area and have been
wanting to get closer imaging with MAHLI before driving away. We were unable to
do this with powdered Mammoth Lakes still in the drill stem but, having dumped
any remaining material in the previous plan, Curiosity is free to use her arm
again for contact science, and hence the MAHLI camera. We will take images from
about 30 centimeters (about 12 inches) away from the block (“Glacier Notch”)
with MAHLI. Unfortunately, “Glacier Notch” was too close to the rover to be
able to fit the turret in for APXS to examine the chemistry, so we had to
choose a different target: “Lake Ediza” is an example of gray material that
rims the Mammoth Lakes drill block.
We also have one last chance for ChemCam and Mastcam in this immediate
area. We will acquire ChemCam passive spectra of the Mammoth Lakes powdered
material surrounding the drill hole (we collected APXS data and MAHLI images of
the drill fines in the previous plan) and LIBS on a darker-toned target,
“Zumwalt Meadow.” These targets will be documented by Mastcam. The
long-distance imaging capabilities of ChemCam will also be utilized to examine
nearby ridge and trough-like forms.
There are also a slew of atmospheric/environmental observations planned.
Before we drive away, we will take advantage of being parked in the same spot
while drilling to monitor any changes in the immediate environment by
re-imaging a couple of areas previously captured on multiple occasions by
Mastcam. Other atmospheric observations include a Navcam line-of-sight mosaic,
Navcam dust devil, zenith, and suprahorizon movies, a ChemCam passive sky, and
Mastcam taus.
After the drive, MARDI will image the terrain beneath the wheels and
ChemCam will autonomously select a target to analyze with LIBS. Standard REMS,
DAN and RAD activities round out the plan.
The team are looking forward to a new workspace when we return for
planning on Monday, and continued investigation of the Gediz Vallis deposit.
Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick
Source: Sols 4236-4238: One More Time… for Contact Science at Mammoth Lakes - NASA Science
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