MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Sol 1507: What’s lurking in Blackwoods and Witch Hole Pond?

31 October 2016


Happy Halloween from Mars! Over the weekend Curiosity drove 51 m further to the south, and we continue to investigate the Murray formation.  I was the GSTL and KOP today (what a treat!) and we had a busy morning trying to decide whether or not to do contact science or more remote sensing.  We decided to forego contact science in favor of some additional ChemCam and Mastcam observations.  In the spirit of Halloween, today’s targets include “Witch Hole Pond” and “Blackwoods” to assess the chemistry of the Murray formation and to investigate some interesting sedimentary structures.  We’ll also use Mastcam for environmental monitoring to measure the opacity of the atmosphere.  Then Curiosity will drive about 30 m to the south, and we’ll take post-drive imaging to prepare for targeting and the potential for touch-and-go contact science tomorrow.  Overnight, Curiosity will be working the graveyard shift to perform another CheMin analysis of the “Sebina” sample.  Happy Halloween!
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Još jednom meteorit...

Snimak kamere MARDI...to je ona koja se nalazi ispod vozila i snimala je spuštanje CURIOSITY na Mars. 

sol 1507...

Pozicija sol 1507...

sol 1508...pew..

It's official: JPL confirm that "Egg Rock" is an iron-nickel meteorite:

The dark, smooth-surfaced object at the center of this Oct. 30, 2016, image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was examined with laser pulses and confirmed to be an iron-nickel meteorite.
The grid of shiny points visible on the object resulted from that laser zapping by Curiosity's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument.
The meteorite is about the size of a golf ball. It is informally named "Egg Rock," for a site in Maine. Locations around Bar Harbor, Maine, are the naming theme for an area on Mars' Mount Sharp that Curiosity reached in October.
Iron-nickel meteorites are a common class of space rocks found on Earth, and previous examples have been found on Mars, but Egg Rock is the first on Mars to be examined with a laser-firing spectrometer.
The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. Figure 1 includes a scale bar of 5 centimeters (about 2 inches).

Sols 1509-1510: No contact science

2 November 2016
MSL drove another 44 meters on Sol 1508, ending up in an area that again is partly covered by dark sand.  There aren't any very compelling targets within the arm workspace, so we decided again to forgo contact science, and focused instead on remote observations.  Planning is restricted, so we are planning 2 sols today.  On Sol 1509, Navcam will search for dust devils and ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of "Ellsworth," another target in the area about 500 meters away where orbital data indicate the presence of clay minerals.  ChemCam and the Right Mastcam will also observe a nearby sand target named "Sand Beach," a vein target called "The Triad," and a typical bedrock target dubbed "Rum Island."  The Right Mastcam will then acquire a 5x1 mosaic of Ellsworth and "McFarland Hill" and a 3x1 mosaic of nodule-rich bedrock at "Connors Nubble."  A 4x1 Left Mastcam mosaic is also planned, to survey nearby sedimentary structures and nodules.  The rover will drive again later that afternoon, and images will be acquired to set us up for contact science (including brushing) this weekend.  ChemCam will then observe a target selected using AEGIS, and CheMin will perform another analysis overnight.  On Sol 1510, ChemCam will perform multiple calibration activities.  We're hoping that we'll be in a good position for contact science after the Sol 1509 drive!

by Ken Herkenhoff

sol 1509...Moja procjena...Dok ne dođe bolji rezultat..

sol 1509...NASA

Ono ispupčenje ispred vozila je udaljeno cca 390 m - mimo njega će se proći!
Za prelazak pješčane dine treba prijeći put "zračne" linije u dužini cca 730 m.

Sols 1511-1513: Brushing Penobscot

4 November 2016
After driving over 40 meters on Sol 1509, MSL is ready for the 3-sol weekend plan.  There are a couple of good-sized outcrops in the arm workspace, so we're planning contact science on Sol 1511.  But first, Navcam will look for clouds and ChemCam will observe bedrock targets named "Pemetic," "Jordan Pond," and "Penobscot."  The Right Mastcam will then image Jordan Pond, Pemetic, and the ChemCam target selected by AEGIS on Sol 1509, and acquire a 9x3 mosaic of sedimentary structures southwest of the rover.  Later that afternoon, the DRT will brush off Penobscot and MAHLI will image the brushed spot and Pemetic from 25, 5 and 1 centimeter.  The APXS will be placed on Pemetic for a pair of integrations that evening, then placed on Penobscot for an overnight integration. 

On Sol 1512, Mastcam will acquire a 5x4 stereo mosaic of the outcrop around Penobscot and a multispectral observation of the brushed spot.  Next, MAHLI will image the rover wheels at 5 locations separated by small "bumps" to monitor wheel wear.  Then it's time for another drive and the post-drive imaging needed for a potential "touch and go" on Sol 1514. 

Sol 1513 starts with another ChemCam observation using AEGIS and Mastcam measurements of atmospheric dust opacity.  Finally, CheMin will read out the data resulting from the recent analysis of empty sample cells and MARDI will acquire another image during twilight.  The rover will then get some well-earned rest and charge her batteries overnight.  It was a busy morning for me and the other MAHLI/MARDI uplink leads, but we're happy with the plan!

by Ken Herkenhoff