MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Sol 1461: Time to drill

14 September 2016

It’s always an exciting day on Mars when you prepare to drill another sample – an engineering feat that we’ve become so accustomed to that I sometimes forget how impressive this really is!  Today’s plan just looks like a “typical” drill sol.  First we’ll image the intended drill target with MAHLI, then we’ll do a full drill of the target “Quela”, followed by more documentation imaging with MAHLI.  We’ll also acquire a ChemCam RMI image of the drill hole to help with upcoming targeting of the hole.  Then the sample will be transferred to the scoop for inspection.  Drilling is a pretty power-hungry activity, so there are no additional science observations in this plan, but we’re hoping to have more time for science tomorrow.  In the meantime, we have plenty of new beautiful images to analyze.
Fingers crossed for another successful drill hole on Mars!
By Lauren Edgar 
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Robotska ruka u položaju za vrtanje.

Sol 1462: Drill Troubleshooting and Remote Sensing

Fri, 16 Sep 2016

Unfortunately the Sol 1461 drilling activities did not complete as expected, so the Sol 1462 plan was focused on trying to understand the problem while also doing some remote sensing. The plan starts off with Mastcam multispectral observations of the target “Ekunha” on the nearby butte. ChemCam will analyze the targets “Cuasa” and “Cuimba”, and then Mastcam will document those targets and take an 8x3 mosaic of the butte, along with a change detection observation at “Goantagab”.
In the afternoon, Mastcam has a mosaic of the target “Karasburg” to help with planning contact science, and then in the morning of Sol 1463 Mastcam has another mosaic of the nearby butte, under different lighting, and Navcam has at atmospheric measurement. Throughout the whole plan, there are also a number of joint Navcam and Mastcam photometry observations of the same location at different times of day to help understand how sunlight scatters off the surface.
by Ryan Anderson
-Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL.

 



Original djelomičnog selfija. Iznad je umanjena verzija izgleda pod našim nebom.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8027/29652100702_4ef8cf349c_o.jpg

Kao da su uspjeli popravit anaomalije u svezi vrtanja. Ovo mi djeluje kao uspješno vrtanje.
Primijetio sam i kompletnu inspekciju prijenosa uzorka u unutrašnjost laboratorija...

Da, uspjelo je. 
Samo usput, sudeći po boji reklo bi se da uzorak pripada kamenu iz najstarije ere Marsa.
Kamenje iz ovog doba su na Zemlji prava rijetkost. 

Sol 1466: A new drill hole

Mon, 19 Sep 2016

The second attempt to drill into Quela was successful, but there was a timing issue during sample manipulation in CHIMRA that resulted in premature halting of the Sol 1465 sequence.  So on Sol 1466 we'll pick up where MSL stopped and sieve the new sample, dump the unsieved fraction, and drop some of the sieved sample into CheMin.  But first, ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of the Quela drill tailings and use its laser to measure the chemistry of the wall of the new drill hole and of bedrock targets "Camaxilo" and "Okakarara."  Right Mastcam images of these targets are also planned.  After sunset, MAHLI will use its LEDs to take images of the drill hole from various angles and of the CheMin inlet to confirm that the sample was successfully delivered.  Finally, the APXS will be placed over the drill tailings for an overnight integration. 
by Ken Herkenhoff

Sols 1467-1468: Finishing up at Quela

20 September 2016
The activities planned for Sol 1466 are going well so far--the only problem is that the ChemCam observation of the Quela drill hole wall is slightly out of focus.  So we'll try again on Sol 1467 with slightly modified ChemCam command parameters.  We're planning two sols today, and our top priority is to finish up our investigation of the Quela drill hole and tailings before driving away.  There are a lot of measurements we'd like to make here, so it was a rather busy day for me as SOWG Chair.  After retracting and stowing the arm to allow remote sensing observations of the Quela area, the Right Mastcam will image the imprint of the APXS contact sensor in the drill tailings, to determine exactly where the APXS was placed.  Mastcam will also image the unsieved sample dump pile through all filters and measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere (a "Mastcam tau") by imaging the Sun.  Then ChemCam will go to work, acquiring passive spectra of the dump pile and active LIBS observations of the drill hole/tailings, a vein target named "Sumbe," and Goantagab again to look for changes.  The Right Mastcam will then acquire a 5x8 mosaic of the right side of the butte in front of the rover and take pictures of the ChemCam targets.  Another Mastcam tau is scheduled late in the afternoon, followed by CheMin and SAM engineering activities.  Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere again on the morning of Sol 1468, and Navcam will search for clouds overhead.  A ~90-meter drive is planned during the middle of the day, followed by the usual post-drive imaging to set us up for the next plan. 
by Ken Herkenhoff

sol 1468...Još nisam uspio saznati točnu poziciju.

sol 1468 ...here is..

Na jednom američkom "sajtu" sam primijetio ovu fotografiju, na kojoj autor komentara objašnjava rad  nekih od kamera na vozilu.
Meni je uvijek zanimljiva ova zadnja - RMI (ChemCam) kamera, s kojom se na udaljenosti od nekoliko metara može pratiti  detalje
dijelova koje istražuje laserski spektroskop, a ujedno kao RMI  fotografirati fotografije nevjerojatne  rezolucije na udaljenosti od nekoliko kilometara. Ova kamera će sigurno naći svoje mjesto i u civilnoj uporabi(ljubiteljski fotografi žive i nežive prirode).
Na trećoj fotografiji primjerćujem jedan detalj, koji mi je zapao u oko (označio sam ga u krugu). Ovo u NASA-i za sada ne komentiraju,
a ja mogu reći da mi raspiruje maštu...ne znam što bih rekao, osim da mi je ovo što vidim veoma neobično. Fosil? Može bit, zašto ne...

Originalni komentar: 


"One target is imaged by three of Curiosity's cameras while located at the same location, each image has been cropped to feature just the target. On the left of the montage is a navigation camera frame, in the center is a right-side mast camera frame, on the right is a cropped mosaic of three ChemCam remote micro imager (RMI) frames. The NavCam and MastCam frames have been annotated to show the area of coverage of the next frame. The mission sols have also been annotated above each frame in the montage."

Sol 1469: Leaving Murray Buttes

22 September 2016
MSL drove over 87 meters on Sol 1468, toward an outcrop named "Karasburg."  The Sol 1469 plan includes another drive toward Karasburg, after ChemCam and Mastcam sample a local bedrock target named "Cacolo" and a patch of brighter material dubbed "Malembo."  Mastcam will also acquire mosaics of the Karasburg area both before and after the drive.  Following the typical post-drive activities, AEGIS will again be used to autonomously select a ChemCam target and acquire chemical and imaging data.  While the Murray Buttes were spectacular and interesting, it's good to be back on the road again, as there is much more of Mt. Sharp to explore!

by Ken Herkenhoff

Noćno snimanje bušotine i laserskih pogodaka , pod uvjetima LED lampe.
Bušotina je promjera 0.63 inch-a, iliti 16 mm. Dubina cca 55  mm.
Fascinira preciznost...