MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Isječak iz orbitalnog snimka područja konačnog cilja misije MSL. 
Desno je uvećano područje "Polyigonal readges", za koje postoji
znanstveno tumačenje da je proizvod  djelovanja podzemnih voda
i smrzavanja na površini.Who knows, možda i sada postoji led.
U takvom slučaju se ne bi smjeli približavati -zbog moguće kontaminacije.
Moram reći da sam bio zaprepašten kad sam ovo čuo...

Sols 1477-1479: Rocky Road

Fri, 30 Sep 2016

Everything went well in our previous plan and we are making slow but steady progress over rough terrain toward our next drill location. We should get there by next weekend!
Today’s plan starts off with a bunch of remote sensing on Sol 1477. Navcam has an atmospheric observation, followed by ChemCam analysis of the targets “Chadibe”, “Bobonong”, and “Dukwi”. Mastcam will document those targets once ChemCam is done with them, as well as the ChemCam AEGIS target from yesterday. Mastcam also has a small mosaic of the target “Etsha” to study its fine-scale layers, and a larger mosaic to extend the drive-direction pan from Sol 1475. The Etsha mosaic will be repeated again later in the day. In the evening, APXS will analyze the chemistry of the target “Caugula” and “Catumbela” will be analyzed overnight. We will brush the dust off of Catumbela before the overnight analysis, and MAHLI will take images of the targets to support APXS.
On Sol 1478, ChemCam has observations of Catumbela and “Francistown,” with Mastcam support. Later in the day, ChemCam will do an automatically targeted AEGIS observation and MARDI. Sol 1479 will be full of routine engineering activities, so we didn’t plan any science blocks.
by Ryan Anderson
-Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL.

Tipično za smrznjeno blato...

U pozadini su niži dijelovi (zapadni) Mt Sharp.
Udaljenost krajnjeg dijela kojeg vidimo je negdje oko 10-12 km.

APXSpektrometria u zalazak sunca.

Pogled unazad, na Murray Buttes. U pozadini se zbog trenutne prašine u "zraku" jedva nazire sjeverni rub kratera...

sve je to lijepo ali nista dok se ne posalje ljudska posada na povrsinu marsa

Kratka vožnja...

Stereo (3D)...trebaju vam one naočale sa crveno-plavim staklima. 

Smjer budućeg kretanja, ugrubo....

Wheel Check-out: Sol 1471 (i.redd.it)
submitted 2 hours ago by paulhammond5155


[–]paulhammond5155 5 points 2 hours ago 
A cropped & processed mosaic of 2 overlapping left-side mast camera frames of one the rovers wheels. These images were acquired on the 25th September, 2016, or mission sol 1471. The damage to the thin sections is not as important as any damage to the grousers (treads). The grousers all appear to remain intact, as far as I can tell by reviewing all of the images acquired during this wheel checkout. JPL have performed extensive tests on the wheels up to and including failure point, JPL remain confident that these wheels will take Curiosity to it's science targets at the base unit of Mt Sharp and beyond.

Sols 1480-1481: Touch and Go!

Mon, 03 Oct 2016

MSL drove 12.5 meters on Sol 1478, to an area with lots of nodules in the bedrock.  The tactical planning team decided to exercise the "touch and go" option, so the arm will be deployed for contact science before driving away on Sol 1480.  The plan is packed with a variety of activities, starting with a short APXS integration and MAHLI imaging of a nodule-rich target named "Oodi."  The arm will then be moved out of the way for ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of Oodi and nearby bedrock targets "Calenga" and "Caconda."  The Right Mastcam will also acquire images of targets dubbed "Chitembo," "Chingufo," and "Chipindo" to investigate sedimentary structures in more detail, and of the rock that AEGIS selected for autonomous ChemCam chemical measurements.  Then Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere before the next drive and the usual post-drive imaging.  Overnight, CheMin will analyze the Quela drill sample again, to improve the quality of mineralogical measurements.  On Sol 1481, Navcam will search for clouds, AEGIS will autonomously select a target for ChemCam observations, and the results of the CheMin analysis will be read out of the instrument to the rover computer.  Finally, SAM will perform a maintenance activity before the rover gets some sleep and recharges her batteries in preparation for the next 2-sol plan.

by Ken Herkenhoff