Sol 3905: Roving in a Winter Wonderland

Earth planning date: Monday, July 31, 2023

It’s currently wintertime at Gale Crater and temperatures are cold this time of the year. Power is therefore more limited for Curiosity, so science activities and drives are more constrained as we head into planning this week. The ChemCam frost experiment from the previous plan did not execute as hoped due to an issue with heating the rover’s mast. Fortunately, a second opportunity for these experiments may come later this week! Today, we have planned a single sol with contact science, remote sensing, and a drive.

Curiosity will start off the morning on Sol 3905 with an APXS touch-and-go observation of target “Novo Paraiso” (a junction of polygonal fractures on a flat block of bedrock in the rover’s workspace) along with MAHLI imaging of the same target. Often, the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) is used to clear the bedrock before an APXS observation, but due to limited power during the Martian winter, utilization of the DRT was not an option in this plan.

Our remote sensing activities include a Mastcam multispectral observation of a dark-toned piece of float rock named “Pico Phelps,” followed by a ChemCam LIBS raster to investigate bedrock target “Peruano.” ChemCam will then take a long-distance RMI of Gediz Vallis Ridge and Mastcam will document the LIBS target “Peruano.” Curiosity will then drive on towards Gediz Vallis Ridge, acquire standard imagery of the surrounding terrain, and execute a Navcam sky observation upon reaching its new location. Over the coming weeks, Curiosity will be journeying to upper Gediz Vallis Ridge to investigate new surface materials there.

Written by Abigail Knight, Graduate Student at Washington University in St. Louis