Curiosity continued her journey off of the "Vera Rubin Ridge," driving west along the ridge flank toward a passable route down to the bedrock north of the ridge. Her stop today may have been brief, but it was ehhhhhhxcellent.
Curiosity continued her journey off of the “Vera Rubin Ridge,” driving west along the ridge flank toward a passable route down to the bedrock north of the ridge. Her stop today may have been brief, but it was ehhhhhhxcellent. ChemCam will acquire ten spot rasters across “Homer Lake,” a finely-layered bedrock block, and “Barto Lake,” white sulfate vein material pasted to the side of the Homer Lake block. After ChemCam shoots Homer Lake and Barto Lake, Mastcam will collect multispectral data from both targets, giving Mastcam a view of the areas cleared of dust by the laser and providing complementary data to the ChemCam analyses. Mastcam will feel at home imaging “Terrace Point,” a set of bedrock blocks with distinctive surface textures. Navcam will search for dust devils both before and after the drive.
The MAHLI and APXS teams did not have a cow about the lack of contact science in the plan, as the 25 m drive is aimed at a nice expanse of bedrock for the upcoming weekend plan. If the drive does not go as planned? D’oh!
Written by Michelle Minitti, Planetary Geologist at Framework
