Curiosity has had a busy weekend! We arrived at the locationcalled Pahrump Hills, which has a nice flat expanse of bedrock for us to drilland get our first taste of Mt.
Curiosity has had a busy weekend! We arrived at the location
called Pahrump Hills, which has a nice flat expanse of bedrock for us to drill
and get our first taste of Mt. Sharp rocks. On Sol 755 we took pictures of the
outcrop with MAHLI, brushed it with the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), and measured
its composition with APXS. Then, on Sol 756 we did a “mini-drill” to test the
stability of the rock before doing a full drill. We used Sol 757 to recharge
after all of the arm activity of the previous sols.
In the sol 758 plan today, we have a lot going on. ChemCam
will be zapping the targets Mammoth and Morrison, and Mastcam will take images
of those targets, plus the tailings from the mini-drill. Then we will use MAHLI
to take pictures of Mammoth and Moenkopi, we will use the DRT to brush off
Moenkopi, and then do some more MAHLI imaging afterward. Finally, APXS will
measure the composition of the targets Moenkopi and Mammoth. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Written by Ryan Anderson, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center
