Written by Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Middle
Earth planning date: Friday, July 18, 2025
Curiosity has began to research the primary publicity of the boxwork buildings! What was as soon as a distant goal is now on our doorstep, and Curiosity is starting to discover the ridges and hollows that make up this terrain, to higher perceive their chemistry, morphology, and sedimentary buildings.
I used to be on shift as Lengthy Time period Planner throughout this three-sol weekend plan, and the group put collectively a really full set of actions to completely examine this website — from the sky to the sand. The plan begins with Navcam and Mastcam observations to evaluate the quantity of mud within the ambiance, adopted by a big Mastcam mosaic to characterize the resistant ridge on which the rover is parked. ChemCam may even purchase a LIBS commentary on a goal named “Vicuna” to evaluate the chemistry of a well-exposed vein. The group selected this parking location to characterize the chemistry and textures of this topographic ridge (to match with topographic lows), so the subsequent a part of the plan includes contact science utilizing APXS and MAHLI to take a look at totally different components of the nodular bedrock in our workspace, at targets named “Totoral” and “Sillar.” There’s additionally a MAHLI commentary of the identical vein that ChemCam focused.
The second sol includes extra Mastcam imaging to take a look at totally different components of this outstanding ridge, together with a ChemCam LIBS commentary on high of the ridge, and a ChemCam RMI mosaic to doc the sedimentary buildings in a distant boxwork function. Navcam may even be used to search for mud devils. Then Curiosity will take a brief drive of about 5 meters (about 16 ft) to discover the adjoining hole (seen because the low level within the foreground of the above Navcam picture). After the drive we’ll take extra photos for context, and to organize for concentrating on in Monday’s plan.
In spite of everything of this work it’s time to pause and take a deep breath… of Martian ambiance. The weekend plan includes an thrilling marketing campaign to search for variations in atmospheric chemistry between evening and day. So Curiosity will take an in a single day APXS atmospheric commentary on the identical time that two devices inside SAM assess its chemical and isotopic abundance.
On the third sol Curiosity will purchase a ChemCam passive sky commentary, resulting in an amazing set of atmospheric knowledge. These measurements can be in comparison with much more atmospheric actions in Monday’s plan to get the total image. As you’ll be able to think about, this plan requires loads of energy, but it surely’s value it for the entire thrilling science that we will accomplish right here.
The street forward has many highs and lows (actually), however I can’t wait to see what Curiosity will accomplish. The distant buttes remind us that there’s a lot extra to discover, and I sit up for persevering with to see the place Curiosity will take us.