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Souls 4732-4735: I’ll zap you, my pretty, and your Pebble too.
Land planning date: Friday, November 22, 2024
For more than a year, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been driving through layers of sulfate-rich rock in Gale Crater, where thick light and dark bands are visible by satellites. After a successful drive of 24.55 meters (about 81 feet), Curiosity entered the dark-toned band from the light-toned band, entering a workspace characterized by these dark-toned bands: the platy, dark-colored Tone material interbedded. with light-toned bedrock. The origin of this dark, platy material remains a mystery. To help address this, the Geology and Mineralogy theme group focused on a weekend science project focused on continuing our documentation of the sedimentary composition, structure, and chemistry of this bedrock. , which aims to provide clues about the processes that lead to the formation of dark, platy materials. My role as Keeper of the Geology Plan meant keeping track of all geology related requests, which made for a busy day!
To investigate further, we plan to remove surface dust from a section of light-toned bedrock and take detailed images using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). This close-up view will be combined with chemical and mineralogical analysis using an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS). Meanwhile, Mastcam will focus on two nearby outcrops called “Hanging Valley Ridge” 1 and 2, where dark-colored platy material is visibly layered within lighter-toned bedrock. ChemCam will augment the data by zipping both the brushed light-toned area and the dark-toned material to develop their composition and compare the two.
In addition to studying the sulfate layers, we are continuing our long-term investigation of the Gedds Willis Ridge, It is believed to be the remains of an ancient debris drain. Which we have been investigating for some time. To build on our previous observations, we plan a mastcam mosaic and a long-range remote microimager (RMI) observation to further document its morphology and sedimentary structure. Interestingly, we also identified a dark colored pebble in our work site that could have been transported from the Gadswallis Ridge. To test this idea, we’ll use CamCam to zap the pebble to develop its texture and compare it to the darker material in the outcrop.
While Curiosity is focused on the surface of Mars, we are also monitoring the planet’s atmosphere. The Environment Theme Group is using the rover’s downtime to conduct a series of dust and cloud monitoring activities. A highlight of the weekend plan is about 30 minutes of ChemCam passive sky observation, which will help us study atmospheric conditions in Gale Crater.
As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving here on Earth, the Curiosity team is gearing up for a special holiday “mega plan.” This seven-civil schedule will keep the rover hard at work, ensuring that science and research continue while the team enjoys their celebrations. Stay tuned to see what’s in store next week!
Written by Emily Roberts, Ph.D. candidate at Imperial College London
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