Copy and Paste at Gale Crater: Sols 3934-3935

Copy and Paste at Gale Crater: Sols 3934-3935
by Amelie Roberts| Graduate Student - Imperial College London
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 30, 2023

Earth planning date: Wednesday, August 30, 2023: Earth to Mars? Due to a communications issue, Curiosity didn't receive its instructions on time on Monday, leading to Curiosity taking an extended weekend break - just like its British colleagues!

Today, we're back on track with planning with a lot of discussions about the degree to which we should copy and paste the original plan intended for sols 3932 to 3933. There were debates about whether we should engage in some additional contact science, investigate some purple rocks, or conduct a DRT of some nearby enigmatic polygonal fractures. Ultimately, we settled on a complete copy and paste of the original plan (which you can read about here) as we were determined not to miss out on the planned imaging of part of the crater rim before it was obscured by hills or lose our orthogonal view of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. The GEO team were delighted with this decision, as this meant we could submit the plan ahead of schedule!

To recap the plan for sols 3934 to 3935, Mastcam will be busy with two large, stereo mosaics of upper Gediz Vallis ridge and the nearby well-layered bedrock, which features the enigmatic polygonal fractures. Additionally, Mastcam will also find the time to capture a multispectral observation of a dark float rock "Psofida," thought to be a remnant from Gediz Vallis ridge. Meanwhile, ChemCam will not only investigate bedrock target "Amygdalea" (also documented by Mastcam), but also look much further afield towards the Peace Vallis fan and Gale crater rim (through a long distance RMI). To conclude our targeted science observations, APXS and MAHLI will investigate the composition and texture of another nearby bedrock block called "Paion".

Following this, Curiosity will embark on its next drive along the layered sulfates, continuing the investigation on the cause of the alternating dark and light-toned banding. Finally, we will complete our untargeted observations featuring a Navcam dust devil survey and cloud altitude observations, a look at the dust in the atmosphere through a basic tau observation, and our customary post-drive terrain imaging.

With our plan submitted, let's hope for clear skies and effective communication to Mars!

Sols 3930-3931: Wrapping up at the Ridge
by Emma Harris, Graduate Student at Natural History Museum, London
Earth planning date: Friday, August 25, 2023: In the next 2 sols we are wrapping up our mini campaign at the upper Gediz Vallis Ridge (uGVR) that has been documented in previous blogs over the last week or so. Before we leave however, we want to collect as much data as we can! Next, Curiosity will be driving back to the nominal Mount Sharp Ascent Route (MSAR). We diverted from the MSAR back in June in order to navigate some tricky terrain, and then again briefly here at the uGVR.

A jam-packed final 2 sols at the uGVR sees us documenting five float rocks in our workspace that we 'bumped' to with a ~7 m drive previously. Over the next 2 sols, the rocks "Styx," "Knossos," and "Stravia" will be documented by Mastcam multispectral analysis. ChemCam LIBS observations will be undertaken on Styx and on another float rock named "Elafonisos." Elafonisos also receives complimentary Mastcam documentation. The terrain around here has been tricky to navigate, making it precarious to unstow Curiosity's arm if we are perched on unstable rocks, but tosol was successful! The arm will be unstowed for APXS and MAHLI documentation of Knossos and the fifth and final float rock documented in this plan named "Meteora."

Aside from the immediate workspace, we also had time in the plan to look further afield. A Mastcam mosaic of the MSAR and future drive direction will be taken, as well as two Mastcam mosaics of blocks and float rocks higher up within the uGVR. The ChemCam instrument takes the lead for two Long Distance RMIs (LD RMIs) of a block named "Argos" in the uGVR, and a second LD RMI of the yardang unit higher up on Mount Sharp. Finally, the plan is rounded off with a Navcam dust devil survey and some morning atmospheric observations. Whilst I'm sure there are many folks that wish we could hang out at the uGVR for a while longer, Mount Sharp won't climb itself, and it's time to get back to the MSAR. Thanks Gediz Vallis Ridge!