Sols 3592-3593: Onwards

Curiosity is back on the road! The arm (seen above while conducting science activities on sol 3583) is good to go, so the team planned a full day of activities. Curiosity has been sitting in the same place for a few sols, so the team has been taking advantage of that to get extra observations in this area. One Mastcam observation is an extension of a mosaic (“Parai Pond”) that was started last week. Additionally, there is a Mastcam multispectral observation in the plan to capture bedrock that shows color variations. We will get a closer look at a feature in the distance that is thought to be an inverted channel with a ChemCam long distance RMI. ChemCam will also target the “Kurupung” block in the workspace. The ChemCam team is taking advantage of spending several sols in one location to build up their statistics of the geochemistry in this area. By targeting multiple rocks in the scene, we will get a better understanding as to whether everything has the same chemistry or if there are small variations. Contact science is back in the mix, with a MAHLI observation of an interesting pink pebble in the workspace called “Piabas.” We also get back on the road in this plan, with a short seven meter drive that will take the rover to the edge of the next area of interest. Onwards!

Written by Kristen Bennett, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center