MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Ovo je već prolazak kroz "Južna vrata", što će reći definitivno napuštanje kompleksa MURRAY BUTTES.

Približno, dok ne stignu službeni podaci...

Sol 1454: Approaching the next drill site

Tue, 06 Sep 2016

The 4-sol plan over the holiday weekend went well, and Curiosity drove ~40 m to the south.  We’re currently just to the east of a butte that we’re planning to approach as our next potential drill site. 
Today’s 1-sol plan is a busy one.  We’ll start with MAHLI imaging of the target “Eheke,” to characterize the local bedrock.  Then we’ll use Mastcam and Navcam to assess atmospheric opacity, followed by ChemCam observations of the targets “Diyogha,” and “Donkerbos.”  We’ll also acquire a Mastcam mosaic of the “Karasburg” area to observe the contact between the Murray and Stimson formations, and another mosaic to document the stratigraphy in the buttes.  Then we’ll drive to start approaching the next drill site.  After the drive we’ll take post-drive imaging for context and targeting.  Tomorrow is a soliday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up), and then we’ll resume with an early slide sol on Thursday.
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Pogled kroz "Južna vrata"...Označio sam i približni cilj misije. Dug je put do njega, ako vozilo uopće preživi do tada.

http://www.nature.com/news/mars-contamination-fear-could-divert-curiosity-rover-1.20544

Zanimljiv članak.

Vrhnji dio "buttes" su iz mlađeg marsovog doba. Zanimljivo je da što idemo više prema Mt Sharp,
mijenjala se i boja uzoraka kamenja , dobivenih vrtanjem - od crvenkaste prema sivkasto-zelenkastoj. 
Stariji slojevi su crvekasti, a mlađi svkasto-zelenkasti. Na donjoj fotografiji vidimo gornje slojeve "butte",
koje za početak procjenjujem kao konglomerate. Mišljenje da se radi o "fosilnnim konkrecijama" bi bilo prehrabro,
ili tek polsjedica puke paraidolije, kojoj smo i inače skloni.

Sol 1455: Driving to Quela

8 September 2016

After another successful drive of ~40 m, Curiosity is aiming to approach the south side of a butte for our next potential drill site.  The area is known as “Quela,” and is seen in the above Navcam image as the bright outcrop at the base of the butte.
Today’s plan includes a short science block, a drive, and post-drive imaging.  The morning science block includes several Mastcam mosaics to assess the local stratigraphy, laminations in the Murray formation, and to document the butte and proposed drill site.  We’ll also acquire a ChemCam observation of the bedrock at the target “Humpata,” and a Mastcam tau to assess atmospheric opacity.  In addition to geology observations, the team has increased the frequency of meteorological measurements with REMS and imaging in response to observations from other spacecraft at Mars of the potential start of a major dust storm.  The drive in this plan may put us in position at the next drill site, so our post-drive imaging will help prepare us for that scenario.  We’ll also squeeze in another autonomously selected ChemCam target in the afternoon.  It’s exciting to think about drilling again already!
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Slijedi vratanje i ispitivanje uzoraka u pravo na ovom dijelu...

Sols 1456-1458: Settling in at Quela

9 September 2016

We had a successful drive yesterday, and Curiosity is now parked at our next drill site, called “Quela”, right at the base of one of the Murray Buttes. The Sol 1456 plan starts with a Mastcam atmospheric observation, followed by ChemCam and Mastcam of “Quela” and a Mastcam mosaic of the workspace. After that, samples of “Marimba” will be dropped off in SAM for analysis.
On Sol 1457 Mastcam has another tau, and we will dump out the remaining Marimba sample and take some pictures of it. After that Curiosity will brush the dust off of Quela, with MAHLI images before and after, and APXS will do an overnight analysis.
In the morning on Sol 1458, Navcam, Mastcam, and ChemCam have a series of atmospheric observations. These will be followed by Mastcam multispectral observations of the Marimba dump pile, and another ChemCam passive sky and Mastcam tau. ChemCam will also analyze a block of Stimson material called “Uutapi”. Mastcam will document Uutapi and take a mosaic of some other blocks of rock that have fallen off the butte, collectively called “Cuimba”.
by Ryan Anderson
-Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL.

Close-up of the target 'Quela'
This close-uo image of the target 'Quela' after being brushed with the rovers Dust Removal Tool (DRT). The scale bar added is based on the reported MAHLI camera focus motor count (12899), the motor count also indicates the camera lens was ~29 centimeters or 11.4 inches above the target.
Curiosity captured this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI camera), located on the turret at the end of the rover's two meter long robotic arm, on September 11, 2016 (mission Sol 1457). Curiosity is now parked at its next drill site, called 'Quela', at the base of the most southerly of the Murray Buttes

APXSpektrometrija.