Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington College in St. Louis
Earth planning date: Monday, June 30, 2025
Our weekend drive positioned Curiosity precisely the place we had hoped: on lighter-toned, resistant bedrock now we have been eyeing for shut research. Curiosity’s workspace tosol didn’t include any targets appropriate for DRT. After an in depth dialogue by the group, weighing science not solely in tosol’s plan however the holiday-shifted sols forward, the choice was made to carry out contact science on the present workspace after which drive within the second sol of the plan.
Usually, drives within the second sol of a two-sol plan are unusual, as we require info on the bottom to evaluate prematurely of the following sol’s planning. At current nevertheless, the present “Mars time” is sort of favorable, enabling Curiosity’s group to function inside “nominal sols” and obtain the required knowledge in time for Wednesday’s one-sol plan. DAN kicked off the primary sol of the plan with a passive measurement, complemented by one other within the afternoon and two extra on the second sol. Arm actions targeted on inserting MAHLI and APXS on “La Paz” and “Playa Agua de Luna,” two lighter-toned, laminated rocks.
The remainder of the primary sol was rounded out with ChemCam LIBS analyses on “La Joya” adopted by additional LIBS analyses on “La Vega” on the second sol, as soon as Curiosity’s arm was out of the way in which of the laser. ChemCam and Mastcam moreover imaged “Mishe Mokwa” previous to the almost straight drive of about 20 meters (about 66 toes). Environmental monitoring actions, imaging of the CheMin inlet cover, and a SAM EBT activity rounded out Curiosity’s efforts on the second sol.