Earth planning date: Monday, October 16, 2023.

We are just at the first steps of the next drilling campaign, as regular readers of this blog will certainly have spotted already. The last plan had the preload test, that little dent we make into the rocks to gauge how both the rock and the rover’s arm will react to the pressures and stresses of the drilling. It’s a good forecast, but rocks are natural materials, and sometimes they just decide to break. Remember that Groken drill hole? I don’t blame you, if not, because the blog about it is just three days short of three years old! You can find it here if you want to go down memory lane! Fred Calef decided to use the image of the broken off rock piece (which also got additional attention with the analytical instruments) for his title image!

I have picked the ‘arm on the rock’ image above, because I simply love to see instruments on the rocks. But what became of our preload test? Well, it’s a little more complex as engineers weren’t quite sure we’d passed all tests for quite a while into planning. That’s not to say that there was any specific problem, just that the numbers were complex enough to analyse that the time between when our engineers got them and the start of planning wasn’t quite enough. So, we were told to ‘stand by’ … that was at 4 pm in the UK, which is where this blogger is located. While the engineers looked at the downlink, the scientists made the most of that ‘stand by’ situation, assumed success and we started the planning process for the science observations we’d like in the plan.

The plan has the actual drill of the Sequoia drill site and the cadence of observations to characterise the drill hole and the fines, starting with Mastcam and ChemCam imaging. ChemCam also targets ‘Sharktooth’ with a LIBS measurement, a target that was chosen to be in the same layer as the drill to compare chemistry. Finally, Mastcam looks – again – at the change detection location to see if we can make out any wind action.

The science activities in the plan are short today as the drilling is very power intense and of course the main focus in the plan. About an hour into planning, when we had completed our work, the mission scientist came back to give us an update and told us to … you guess it: ‘stand by’. He could give us a green light for submission of our desired science activities as the analysis showed that chances were getting higher and higher that all the numbers would be looking good at the end of the analysis. So, we submitted our plan, although it was not yet totally clear if we could actually drill. That said, our optimism had been upgraded to a 95 % confidence level that we could actually drill. What else? Well, to continue to ‘stand by’ of course! We went into the next meeting to go over the entire plan, still on ‘stand by’ for the final verdict on the ‘go’ for drilling. At that point, it was 7 pm over here. Some assessments are just a little more complex than others… and ‘Better be safe than sorry’ as we say here in the UK. So, even after that meeting had finished, we were still on ‘stand by’ for the final go/no go decision on the drill.

Now, go or no go? Did we send the drill command? Well, at 19.47 pm UK the final verdict was delivered and the decision was made that we are go for drilling! So, with the numbers all analysed, we got the go for drilling and our plan was sent to Curiosity. We are all awaiting to see the new kid of the drill hole family soon! If you want to see what the first 36 of them look like… here you go!

The last time I contributed to this blog (Sols 2933-2934), we were on rubbly terrain, and here we are again. Curiosity has had no trouble traversing rubbly Glen Torridon material, and our current terrain is no exception. We have made good progress since leaving the resistant bedrock benches and Curiosity is currently driving along the transition between what appears to be smoother material from orbital imagery and blockier, more resistant material to the south (see Where is Curiosity?). The workspace tosol is in the smoother material, ~25 m from the blocky terrain. The science team is interested in documenting any changes in chemistry and texture as we drive from the smoother material, up on to the blockier material and as we near the sulfate unit higher up on Mount Sharp, so this is an important pit stop along our traverse.

As the APXS Payload Uplink-Downlink Lead (PUDL) today, I was responsible for checking the APXS downlink from our previous plan, and then helping to plan and uplink the APXS measurements on two slightly different textured rock targets “Auchnafree Hill” and “Coupar Angus” in our current workspace. MAHLI will take close-up images of both targets and ChemCam will also investigate the Coupar Angus target. We will be able to compare the composition and texture with other rocks from previous rubbly terrains within Glen Torridon, as well as with the upcoming blockier terrain. We also planned ChemCam LIBS measurements and accompanying Mastcam documentation imaging of the “Ayre of Tonga” and “Ocraquoy” rock targets. The Ayre of Tonga target appears to be equivalent to the Auchnafree Hill APXS and MAHLI target, and the Ocraquoy has a similar dark, nodular texture to recent ChemCam/APXS targets “Ben Hee” and “Achnasheen.”

The science team also planned three Mastcam mosaics. The first is to document the transition between the smoother and blockier, more resistant terrains ahead of us. The second is to continue the investigation of periodic bedrock ridges that we have observed throughout the Glen Torridon region. The third is to document sedimentary textures in the near field of the rover. A Mastcam image will also be acquired of the rover deck.

The planned drive tosol should take us right to the contact between the smoother and blockier terrains, and the ramp that we are going to drive up in order to access the blocky material. To give us a hint at the chemistry of the rocks at the end of the drive, a post-drive ChemCam AEGIS observation will be acquired. A planned post-drive MARDI image will also give us a sense of what the ground beneath our wheels looks like.

The environmental group was also busy planning observations of the atmosphere. These include a Mastcam basic tau mosaic pointed towards the sun, Navcam suprahorizon and dust devil movies, and Navcam line of sight observation and dust devil survey images. Standard REMS, RAD, DAN passive and active measurements are also planned. A SAM atmospheric QMS-TLS run is also included, and CheMin are downlinking full frames from their analysis of the “Groken” drill fines, in order to refine their interpretation.

‘Tis the Halloween season! The rubbly terrain that Curiosity is currently driving over is reminiscent of other rubbly terrain encountered within the "Glen Torridon" area and continues to be relatively easy to drive on. Curiosity drove a further 32 meters away from the "Mary Anning" and "Groken" drill site in the previous plan. As we drive back towards the planned route to the sulfate unit, the main focus is to document the textures, relationships and chemistry of the rocks we encounter.

As the APXS Payload Uplink-Downlink Lead (PUDL) today, I was responsible for checking the APXS downlink from our previous plan when we analyzed the pebble “Rachan” from the Sol 2931 rubbly workspace, and then helping to plan and uplink the APXS measurement on the rock target “Mail Beach” in our current workspace. MAHLI will also take close-up images of Mail Beach and we will be able to compare the composition and texture to Rachan and other rocks from previous rubbly terrains within "Glen Torridon." We also planned a ChemCam LIBS measurement and accompanying Mastcam documentation imaging of the “Windy Standard” rock target, which will complement the APXS and MAHLI observations.

The science team also planned three large Mastcam mosaics (including “Corbett”) to document the textures and relationships between the more resistant bedrock ledges and the lower ground in this area. Do these ledges represent a slightly different rock type that was perhaps deposited in a slightly different environment to the more typical low relief terrain? Are they more cemented and harder than surrounding rocks as a result of post-depositional processes? Might they provide clues as to what is happening as we get closer to the sulfate unit, that we are on route to?

The planned drive tosol should take us to another of the resistant ledges for interrogation by many of Curiosity’s instruments in the upcoming weekend plan. To give us a hint at the chemistry of the rocks at the end of the drive, a post-drive ChemCam AEGIS observation will be acquired. A planned post-drive MARDI image will also give us a sense of what the ground beneath our wheels looks like.

The environmental group was also busy planning observations of the atmosphere. These include a Mastcam basic tau mosaic pointed towards the sun and a Navcam line of sight observation, dust devil survey and suprahorizon movie. Standard REMS, RAD, DAN passive and active measurements were also planned. Finally, CheMin will dump the Groken drill fines, as they are done with their analysis of the sample.

The short drive or "bump" that was planned for Sol 2924 went well, placing the rover on a relatively steep slope right next to the "Maybole" outcrop.

Every time we prepare to deploy MSL's arm, the risk of the wheels slipping due to the change in the vehicle's center of gravity must be assessed. Today that assessment was more difficult than usual because of the ~26-degree rover tilt and the proximity of the outcrop, making it a challenging day for the tactical team and a sometimes stressful one for me as SOWG Chair. But ultimately we got the "go" from the experts assessing the slip risk, and we did not have to remove any arm activities from the plan.

Before the arm will be deployed on Sol 2925, Navcam will search for dust devils and Mastcam and Navcam will measure the opacity of dust in the atmosphere. Then ChemCam will measure the elemental chemistry of targets dubbed "Bister" and "Fittie" and the Right Mastcam will take documentary images of both ChemCam targets. Mastcam will then acquire a 3 x 1 stereo mosaic of a small crater named "Crubba" before the rover takes a brief nap. Later in the afternoon, MAHLI will acquire a full suite of images of the outcrop target "Bablin" before the APXS is placed near that target for a short evening integration. APXS will then be placed directly on the Bablin target for a long, overnight integration, during which CheMin will return data from its most recent measurement of the "Groken" drill sample.

We are finally planning to drive away after finishing up at the “Groken” drill hole location, so it was an exciting planning day for me as Science Operations Working Group (SOWG) chair. On Sol 2921, MAHLI will take an image of the APXS target on the sample dump pile, then ChemCam's RMI will take some images of the drill bit after it was successfully used to create three drill holes on the Mary Anning/Groken bedrock block. APXS will be placed on the Groken drill tailings for an overnight integration, then MAHLI will take an image of that target on Sol 2922. Another MAHLI "selfie" is planned for Sol 2922, followed by ChemCam LIBS rasters on bedrock targets "Scaraben" and "Ness." Then the RMI will acquire a 13-frame extension of the "Housedon Hill" mosaic and the Right Mastcam will image the two LIBS targets. The Navcams will be used to search for dust devils and measure atmospheric extinction along with Mastcam. Overnight, CheMin will perform another analysis of the Groken drill sample, then Mastcam will look for changes at the "Upper Ollach" target on Sol 2923. Then, at long last, MSL will drive almost 60 meters toward the "Maybole" outcrop to the south. The post-drive imaging will include an 8x3 Left Mastcam mosaic that will help the tactical team select contact science and drive targets on Monday. Finally, MARDI will take an image of the surface behind the left front wheel during twilight. It's been a productive and interesting drill campaign, but it will be good to get back on the road again!

We are in the homestretch of our time at the “Mary Anning” and “Groken” drill sites, and today’s plan checks off some of the final important boxes to complete our analyses here before we head back uphill. With sample delivered to SAM, we will clear the remaining sample out of the drill and have a look at the discarded sample with MAHLI and APXS. The chemistry of the Groken drill sample from APXS will be combined with the mineralogy determined by CheMin and the volatile contents determined by SAM to build a comprehensive picture of the origin and history of this part of "Gale Crater." MAHLI will also look at the Groken drill hole tailings, which have been somewhat scattered by the wind since we created them on Sol 2910.

We will also look around and beyond the drill target with our remote sensing instruments. ChemCam will acquire chemistry from the target “Vord,” a clean, broken surface exposed during the drill activity. We do not often get such new, dust-free surfaces on Mars so we like to take advantage of clean looks at their chemistry and texture. ChemCam will add to the extensive, spectacular collection of RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area east of the rover, which reveal a real wonderland of geology within Mount Sharp. Mastcam and Navcam will combine forces to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and look for dust devils and clouds. The steady gazes of DAN, RAD and REMS remain fixed on the skies above us and subsurface below us as the other instruments do their work, continuing to build their records of the environment in Gale crater.

The science team decided to stay at the Groken drill location (as seen in the above Hazcam image) a little bit longer to let SAM have a taste of this interesting sample. Today’s one-sol plan is focused on dropping off 4 portions of the Groken sample to SAM and then conducting an evolved gas analysis. But SAM can also be pretty power-hungry (that’s what happens when you’re working day and night!), so there wasn’t much room in the plan for other activities. That means it was a short but sweet day of planning for me as SOWG Chair, but I’m excited to learn what SAM thinks of this sample! We’ll pick up some additional science activities in tomorrow’s plan. The science team is also getting ready for our virtual team meeting which will take place tomorrow and Thursday. While I miss seeing everyone in person, I look forward to “meeting on Mars” to discuss recent results and upcoming plans!

Over the weekend, the rover analyzed our latest drill sample, “Groken,” with the CheMin instrument to look at what minerals it contained. Planning what the rover does next based on new results is often a marriage between what additional science we want to do now in trade for what new discoveries we can make later. In our case, the science team is excited to move on farther up Mt. Sharp, while also wanting to understand the new drill hole results with greater fidelity. Since the results were interesting , the science team decided to look for ‘something new’ now by running the rest of the remaining sample through SAM for an evolved gas analysis (EGA) to tease out the intricate chemistry of the rock. The ‘something old’ will be ten more ChemCam RMI images for the “Housedon Hill” mosaic of distant stratigraphy. ‘Something new’ also includes a second ChemCam target on “Vord,” the rock broken by the drill, including a ‘not so blue’ Mastcam color document image, as well as a dust devil search movie. Here’s to some new data this week, while also looking forward to a future drive!

Curiosity is mostly chilling out this weekend while we continue to investigate the latest drill hole, “Groken,” and the sample we collected in this nodule-rich corner of the rock (the nodules are the dark areas in the image). In the process of drilling, Curiosity broke the rock, which can sometimes happen when we are close to an edge, but still collected enough sample to perform detailed analyses.

In Wednesday’s plan, sample was delivered to CheMin for analysis in order to determine the composition of the nodules. The preliminary results look good – we have a full cell and a strong signal. The top priority is to do more CheMin analysis on the sample and improve the data before deciding whether to deliver sample to SAM. This meant the rover planners a well-deserved day off before resuming the sampling campaign activities next week.

In addition to CheMin, ChemCam and Mastcam are also being targeted on the area around the drill hole - on “Villians,” “Vond,” and “Clibberswick” - to support the investigation into the nodules by examining local variability. ChemCam is also taking more high resolution RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area to help us test hypotheses and inform where we should go in the Mt. Sharp sulfate unit.

As we’re now fully into the windy and dust storm season at Gale Crater, we’ve tasked Curiosity with a lot of environmental observations. Atmospheric observations include standard Mastcam crater rim extinction, cloud movies, zenith movies, and taus (dust opacity measurements) , as well as Navcam line of sight imaging and a suprahorizon movie. We’re keeping a sharp eye out for dust devils with both Navcam and Mastcam dust devil movies. Lastly, we’re looking at local changes with Mastcam deck monitoring and change detection on the “Upper Ollach” trench target.

Nope, that’s not a red star hanging low in the sky. Right now, Mars is one of the brightest objects in the sky, outshining even Jupiter (the waning Moon and late rising Venus will make it even easier to see Mars in all her glory), due to the close timing of both the Martian opposition and perihelion.

Opposition (when Mars and the Sun appear to be on opposite sides of the sky) occurs every 26 months. Mars appears to rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west, not setting until the Sun rises again in the east. As per NASA, every 15-17 years, opposition occurs within a few weeks of Mars’ perihelion, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun, which occurred this year on Aug. 3^rd. Closest approach to Earth occurred on Oct. 6^th, when Mars was a mere 38.6 million miles from Earth (closest approach in 15 years, not to be beaten until 2052) and full opposition on Oct. 13^th. Mars and Curiosity feel almost close enough to touch!

Whilst we gaze upwards admiring the result of this “perihelic opposition” (not to be repeated until 2035), Curiosity will be hard at work, taming the “Groken,” our 29^th successful drill hole on Mars. Today’s plan saw us transition into the analysis part of our drill campaign sol path. We have practiced this quite a bit now, having drilled six holes in the past 9 months, three of which are on the bedrock slab in front of us (see image above). Sample will be delivered to CheMin to determine the mineralogical composition of this sample. Although Curiosity is currently closer to home than at any point in her mission, we will still have to wait until the weekend for the results. As we wait, ChemCam is documenting the drill hole, and some additional bedrock targets here, along a fracture in the drilled bedrock (“Fladdabister” and “Glendaruel”) and on a neighboring bedrock slab (“Melby Fish Beds”). Mastcam will document the ChemCam targets, in addition to taking images of the CheMin inlet before and after the sample is dropped off, and a tau (atmospheric opacity) measurement for the ENV group.

Mars will not be this close again until 2035, so get out this week and wave at Curiosity before Mars starts to wander back outwards, moving slowly but surely away from us.