MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE Vol II.

Kompozit Damia Bouic...kao i obično najbolje od najboljeg.

sol 1519....moja procjena pozicije. Približno je, naravno.

sol 1519 ...panorama NavCam.

Sols 1516-1520: Playing in the Sand

14 November 2016

We’re continuing to make steady progress, with successful drives interspersed with plenty of good science. In the Sol 1516 plan, we started off with a Mastcam mosaic of “West Mesa” to study the stratigraphy, followed by a big 5x5 point ChemCam analysis on the nodular target “Ship Island” which brings ChemCam to more than 400,000 laser shots! ChemCam also analyzed the target “Stave Island” and Mastcam documented both targets as well as the auto-targeted location from Sol 1514. Mastcam rounded out the science block with a small mosaic of some interesting dark rocks. After that, Curiosity drove, and ChemCam did another auto-targeted observation. Sol 1517 was pretty simple, with a Mastcam image of the rover deck, Navcam atmospheric monitoring, and a twilight MARDI image.
The Sol 1516 drive brought us to a sandy location, so the Sol 1518 plan takes advantage of that location to study the sand. The plan starts out with Mastcam observations to monitor the amount of dust in the atmosphere, followed by ChemCam observations of “Folly Island”, “Burnt Porcupine”, “Hadley Point”, and “Old Whale Ledge”. Mastcam will document all of those targets, plus the AEGIS target from Sol 1516. Mastcam also has an observation to extend the mosaic of the workspace. With the remote sensing done, MAHLI will image “Folly Island” and the sandy targets “Sheep Porcupine” and “Bald Porcupine”. APXS will also measure Sheep Porcupine and Bald Porcupine. Late in the day, Mastcam will repeat the observations of atmospheric dust.
On Sol 1519, we have a short drive with the usual post-drive imaging, and ChemCam will do another automated observation. Sol 1520 is an untargeted Sol, so we are focusing on imaging distant targets. Mastcam has a mosaic of the upcoming “Hematite Ridge”, ChemCam has a long-distance RMI of Mt. Sharp, and NavCam will look to the northern horizon to measure the dust in the atmosphere.
by Ryan Anderson
-Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL.

ChemCam ovaj put u drugačijoj ulozi: daljinsko skeniranje terena praktično u samoj blizini konaćnog cilja na Mt Sharp. 
Udaljenost procjenjujem na nekih 5 km.

Curiosity Rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 2012 (PDT)

Sols 1521-1522: Making progress toward the next drill site

14 November 2016

Curiosity continues to drive across bumpy terrain of the Murray formation.  Over the weekend, Curiosity drove ~36 m, making good progress toward our next drill site.  Today’s two-sol plan starts with several ChemCam observations to assess the chemistry of the local bedrock and veins.  We’ll also acquire a long-distance ChemCam RMI mosaic to examine layered and eroded mesas to the west of the Peace Vallis fan.  Then Curiosity will acquire Mastcam images to document the ChemCam targets as well as to evaluate the stratification exposed in nearby outcrops.  We’ll also take several Navcam images to search for dust devils and monitor cloud activity.  After the drive, we’ll take Navcam and Mastcam images of the workspace to prepare for contact science in the next plan.  In the afternoon, Curiosity will acquire a ChemCam AEGIS observation.  In the early morning of Sol 1522, Curiosity will perform a few environmental monitoring observations to evaluate atmospheric opacity and to search for clouds.  I’ll be on duty on Wednesday, so I’m looking forward to a fun day of contact science!
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

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Sols 1523-1524: Investigating Sutton Island

16 November 2016

On Sol 1521 Curiosity drove 11 m to the east, which set us up to investigate a darker-toned outcrop known as “Sutton Island,” seen in the middle of the above Mastcam image.  Today’s plan is focused on contact science to study the grain size, stratification, and chemistry of the “Sutton Island” outcrop.  I was the GSTL today, and it was a busy day of planning!  It took a while to find contact science targets that we could safely reach with the DRT, MAHLI and APXS.  Eventually we found targets that would work, and we planned MAHLI and APXS on two distinct parts of the outcrop, including a DRT location on the top of the outcrop to analyze a clean brushed surface.  We were also able to plan a MAHLI “dogs eye” mosaic to investigate the stratification at a target known as “Seawall.” In addition to contact science, we planned ChemCam observations of the targets “Duck Harbor,” “Islesford,” and “Sutton Island,” to look for changes in chemistry.  Overnight, Curiosity will acquire APXS integrations on the two different contact science targets.  Then on the second sol we’ll use all of the Mastcam filters to assess the spectral properties of this different outcrop.  Later in the afternoon we’ll take a large Mastcam mosaic for geologic context, and Curiosity will perform a ChemCam calibration activity.
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.