MISSION UPDATES | March 7, 2023

Sol 3763: Martian Déjà Vu

Written by Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University
This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3760.

This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 3760. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Download image ›

We had another later start to planning today, and again are planning only a single sol. In a lot of ways, the plan is similar to yestersol’s. Having completed the column clean, we’re ready to drop the sample off to SAM for GCMS tomorrow. So, like yestersol, the plan includes a short science block, the SAM activity, and then a lot of napping. Because SAM is so power hungry, we have to be careful about how much power other activities are taking. Both GEO and ENV had to prioritize observations and have an idea of what could be dropped or exchanged.

In our short science block, Mastcam is extending imaging of the targets ‘Tefe’ and ‘Sima Humboldt.’ ChemCam has a LIBS observation on a nearby pyramid shaped float block, ‘Mont Nadai,’ which you can see in the image above. The science block is rounded out with a dust devil survey from ENV.

After the science block, Curiosity will take a little nap to get ready to deliver the drill sample to SAM. This is accompanied by Mastcam imaging of the SAM inlet both before and after dropping off the sample. The dropoff wraps up with the sample hopefully safe and sound and ready for GCMS tomorrow, and, just like yestersol, Curiosity will go to sleep until it’s time to wake up for tomorrow’s plan.