MARS: CURIOSITY u krateru GALE

Sols 1330-1331: Characterizing the next drill site

2 May 2016


Over the weekend, Curiosity completed the drilling investigation at Lubango, and we drove ~13 m to the “Ovitoto” area (note that this area is only ~4 m away from Cubango as the crow flies, but it took some maneuvering to get there).  This area is composed of typical unaltered Stimson bedrock, which we’ll use to compare to the altered bedrock at Lubango. 
I was on duty as GSTL today, and we put together a full plan of contact science to characterize the next potential drill site.  The two-sol plan starts with a ChemCam observation of “Okoruso,” followed by MAHLI of the same site.  ChemCam LIBS shots tend to blow away a lot of dust, so this will create some nice clean spots for MAHLI to observe grain-scale properties.  The “Okoruso” target will then be brushed off with the DRT, and we’ll acquire MAHLI and APXS on the same spot.  We’ll also do a preload test to prepare for drilling on Wednesday.  Early the next morning, Curiosity will acquire several Navcam and Mastcam observations to monitor the atmosphere and search for dust devils.  These activities will be coordinated with REMS monitoring at the same time.  In the afternoon of the second sol we have a targeted science block, with ChemCam observations of “Omatako” and “Kombat” to investigate variations in composition near the drill site and another alteration zone.  Looking forward to more drilling on Wednesday!
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Za desktop background...

Sols 1332-1333: Drilling at Okoruso

4 May 2016

Contact science activities on Sol 1330 went well, and we’re ready to drill at “Okoruso.”  As seen in the above MAHLI image, this target looks like pretty typical Stimson bedrock, so it will be helpful to compare to the altered rock that we sampled at Lubango.
Today’s two-sol plan is focused on drilling and MAHLI imaging on the first sol, with a lot of targeted remote sensing on the second sol.  Activities on the second sol include a Mastcam multispectral observation of the drill hole, a large Mastcam mosaic to document the local geology, ChemCam observations of “Kobos” and “Strathmore” to investigate altered and unaltered rocks, and a long distance ChemCam RMI mosaic as part of a change detection experiment.  We’ll also acquire a Mastcam tau, ChemCam passive sky, and Navcam movie to monitor the atmosphere.
I’m impressed by how efficient we’ve become at drilling (we just wrapped up the last drill hole a couple of sols ago).  Sometimes I need to pause and remind myself how unique and exciting this is.  On what seems like just a typical Wednesday, we’re drilling a hole on another planet!  I’m grateful for the skilled operations team that makes this seem so easy, and I’m looking forward to seeing results from the newest 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.

Snimljeno s kamerom MARDI prilikom slijetanja  u krater GALE.
Označio sam trenutnu poziciju vozila CURIOSITY , te smjer  kretanja
u nastavku--> MURRAY BUTTES.

Sol 1332 15:38 Site 54/0938 1332MH0005920010501230C00_DXXX
(Description not yet available)
May 5, 2016, 8:44:49 PM UTC (approximate)
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Malin Space Science Systems

Sol 1333 RMI mozaik.

Radi se o ChemCam kameri, koja je inače predviđena za istraživanja na nekoliko metara udaljenosti. 
Prikazano se odnosi na područje udaljeno...hja...6-8 km. Radi se o području koje se nalazi na putu uspinjanja do konačnog cilja na Mt Sharp. 
Dakle, ako se preživi tuda bi se moglo proći kroz nekih par godina, a možda i prije. Ovisno koliko će napredovanje zadržavati "dosadni" znanstvenici . Kako smo vidjeli upravo su nedavno inzistirli povratak do kamenja, za koje su im laserska ispitivanja indicirala bogati sadržaj silike.

Sols 1337-1338: Curiosity’s two-day arm challenge, followed by a selfie

9 May 2016

Today’s two-sol plan is going to be quite an arm workout for Curiosity.  Over the weekend, Curiosity transferred and sieved the “Okoruso” drill sample, and analyzed it with CheMin.  That means that today’s plan is focused on arm activities and imaging the drill location.  The plan starts by dumping the pre-sieved drill sample.  Then we’ll use Mastcam to image the dump pile and drill site.  Next, we’ll target the drill hole with ChemCam, and we’ll also characterize a nearby bedrock target named “Ubib,” followed by a MAHLI image of the dump pile.  Overnight, it’s time for another arm workout – this time focused on MAHLI nighttime imaging of the drill hole and “Ubib” under different illumination conditions.  On the first sol, that’s already several hours of arm activities, while holding a 66 pound (30 kg) turret at the end.  After such an intense workout, what’s next?  Time for a selfie.  On the second sol Curiosity will take a MAHLI self portrait to document the drill site.  But unlike most selfies, Curiosity’s selfie requires 60 different images, and will take nearly an hour to acquire.  Finally, we’ll give the arm a break, and Curiosity will take several ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the drill tailings in the afternoon.  Talk about a good workout (for a lot of great science). 
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Obično nakon koji mjesec znanstvenici objave sastav materijala koji su ispitivali.
Do tada skromno pokušavam odgovorit što vidimo.
Ovo bi mogla biti glina, čiji je mineral montmorilonit, ili što uobičajeno nazivamao "Bentonit". To je ono što se kod ovih ispitivanja uobičajeno naziva skupnim imenom "smektititi". Kao što vidiomo hidrirani monmorilonit sadrži i vodu, čija količina varira, ovisno od uvjeta u kojim je mineral nastao. Ovakve gline obično nalazimo u u prašumskim i termalnim područjima, morskom dnu itd...
Važno je napomenuti da kod zagrijavanja iznad 150% izgubi vodu.
To će biti nekakav reper o načinu nastajanja. 
Neću se spuštati dalje u ovu tematiku, jer i nisam neki specijalist za ovo područje...