NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Front Hazcams) on Sol 2054 Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
I was excited to learn earlier this week that my native city was chosen as the name of the latest drill site on Mars! The name was selected by geologists on the mission to recognize the Duluth Complex, one of the largest intrusions of gabbro on Earth, along the north shore of Lake Superior. But, as the team likes one-word names, we are just calling the drill site "Duluth." The name was almost changed yesterday when it was realized that "Duluth" was already used for a ChemCam target on Sol 292. Normally we don't use names more than once, but the team decided an exception was warranted.
Duluth, my birth city, was at one time the busiest port in the United States in terms of gross tonnage, surpassing even New York for a while. It is still considered the largest freshwater port in the world even though it is one of the farthest inland, at 3770 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Duluth has one of the coolest climates in the US due to its proximity to the world's largest and one of the deepest freshwater lakes. The drill target "Duluth" on Mars was also once near the shore of a large freshwater lake. Its climate is also relatively cool, so the name is apropos.
The Curiosity rover is commencing its drill sequence with a full suite of contact science characterizations today. It will start with a touch of the target by the arm just off to the side of the planned drill site (documented by Hazcam and Navcam), then an APXS observation and then MAHLI observations of the "Duluth" target at 25 cm. After that there will be a pre-load drill test, which will be documented by the imagers. MAHLI will image the site at 35 cm along with imaging the location where the arm did its touch. The Dust Removal Tool (DRT) will brush the target, after which Mastcam will inspect the brush and the brushed surface, and MAHLI will document the brushed target at 25, 5, and 1-2 cm distances. The 5 cm distance will support a stereo pair of images. APXS will be placed for an overnight observation of the target. Navcam and Hazcam will document most of the arm instrument positions over the course of the day. Mastcam will take a Phobos transit video near sunset. RAD, REMS, and DAN will monitor the environment in the background. If all goes well, the uplink team will work on the drilling commands tomorrow.
About this Blog
These blog updates are provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public.
Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Contributors
Sterling Algermissen
Mission Operations Engineer; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Atmospheric Scientist; Texas A&M University; College Station, TX
Kristen Bennett
Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ
Fred Calef
Planetary Geologist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Brittney Cooper
Atmospheric Scientist; York University; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sean Czarnecki
Planetary Geologist; Arizona State University; Tempe, AZ
Lauren Edgar
Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ
Christopher Edwards
Planetary Geologist; Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ
Abigail Fraeman
Planetary Geologist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Scott Guzewich
Atmospheric Scientist; NASA/GSFC; Greenbelt, MD
Samantha Gwizd
Planetary Geologist; University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN
Ken Herkenhoff
Planetary Geologist; USGS; Flagstaff, AZ
Rachel Kronyak
Planetary Geologist; University of Tennessee; Knoxville, TN
Sarah Lamm
Planetary Geologist; LANL; Los Alamos, NM
Michelle Minitti
Planetary Geologist; Framework; Silver Spring, MD
Claire Newman
Atmospheric Scientist, Aeolis Research; Pasadena, CA
Catherine O’Connell
Planetary Geologist; University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Melissa Rice
Planetary Geologist; Western Washington University; Bellingham, WA
Mark Salvatore
Planetary Geologist; University of Michigan; Dearborn, MI
Susanne Schwenzer
Planetary Geologist; The Open University; Milton Keynes, U.K.
Ashley Stroupe
Mission Operations Engineer; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Dawn Sumner
Planetary Geologist; University of California Davis; Davis, CA
Vivian Sun
Planetary Geologist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Lucy Thompson
Planetary Geologist; University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Ashwin Vasavada
MSL Project Scientist; NASA/JPL; Pasadena, CA
Roger Wiens
Geochemist; LANL; Los Alamos, NM
Tools on the Curiosity Rover
The Curiosity rover has tools to study clues about past and present environmental conditions on Mars, including whether conditions have ever been favorable for microbial life. The rover carries:
Now that we're back on the road following our drill campaign at Kilmarie, Curiosity is planning a quick "touch-and-go" activity today to characterize the local bedrock.
The first round of SAM experiments was successful, so in the weekend plan we get to move forward with the GCMS (Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer) experiment.
The drop off of "Kilmarie" drill sample to SAM on Sol 2293 appeared to be successful, but we will not get the full results of the SAM analysis until later today.
Today's main activities use the "laboratory" instruments SAM and CheMin inside of Curiosity to analyze some of the powder from the Kilmarie drill hole.
We started planning in eager anticipation of the preliminary results from our downlink and whether the CheMin X-ray diffraction spectrometer received enough sample of the "Kilmarie" drill sample to successfully complete a first night of analysis.
In the plan today, the top priority was to drop off some sample from the Kilmarie drill hole to the CheMin instrument in order to begin the process of obtaining quantitative mineralogy.
The drilling planned for last weekend was successful, so the top priority for Sol 2386 is to drop portions of the Kilmarie sample onto a closed SAM inlet cover and take Mastcam images after each dropoff to characterize the size of each portion.
Some days just give me goose bumps. First, looking at yesterday's plan I realized that we did something really unusual overnight: Wrap up the drill activity on one site and start the drill activities on the next in the same sol.
Curiosity is finishing up at "Aberlady" and ready to move on to our next drill target. We are preparing to drill a second hole in the clay bearing unit.
Yesterday's discussions with the science team focused on determining which target in the vicinity of "Aberlady" will become the focus of the next drill campaign: target 2, or target 3 (pictured in the Sol 2379 Mission Update).
With our time at Aberlady coming to a close, the search for our next drill target is in full swing. On Friday, the team discussed two different "bump" options that are near our current workspace and may be drillable.
This week's drill activities have been very power-intensive for Curiosity. So we'll spend today, Sol 2374, catching up on some remote science observations while waiting for data from yesterday's CheMin run to arrive.
After looking at our exciting new drill hole, "Aberlady," a few interesting observations were made: the drilled block lifted up a centimeter or two as the drill was retracted, there might be some evidence of a horizontal calcium sulfate (i.e. gypsum) vein within the drill hole, the drill went into the rock very easily (no percussion required), and the drill tailings look clumpier than usual.
Our drill attempt at target "Aberlady" this weekend was a success! In today's plan we are continuing our investigation of Aberlady and the surrounding areas and preparing to deliver our drilled sample to our onboard instruments.
One of the primary goals of the Curiosity mission, to determine the composition of a region which appears to be rich in clays (informally known as "Glen Torridon") is getting closer to being achieved.
Curiosity is getting close to the area in which we next want to drill. We are possibly as close as 2-3 drives (including today's) away from our next drill target!
We are continuing to find interesting new things in Glen Torridon. One of my favorite new images was taken this weekend (Mars sol 2356) on target "Stonebriggs."
At the start of Sol 2359, Curiosity found herself parked in front of some layered bedrock outcrops, a rarity in the rubbly landscapes that we've explored so far in the clay-bearing unit.
As Curiosity makes her way to the site where the science team would like to drill next, there is no shortage of observations to make of the many different lithologies of the clay-bearing unit.
In the current plan, we start with a dust devil survey to look for them while they are still in season. This is followed by a ChemCam investigation "Schiehallion" and an RMI mosaic on "Motherwell." Mastcam will finish off the investigation with multispectral images on the block in front of us, which contain the previous APXS targets "Fife" and "Arbuthnott." So far, so routine, but then there was the look in the rear-view mirror!
Today we planned Sol 2338 chock full of science activities to finish up our observations at the "Midland Valley" outcrop. We'll primarily use our Mastcam and ChemCam instruments to take a closer look at some interesting rock targets in our workspace.
Curiosity returned to science planning today after a two week hiatus because of a technical issue. Our most recent science plan, described in the blog for Sols 2320-2323, included a drive towards a blocky outcrop called "Midland Valley."
Today was a very busy planning day for the Curiosity operations team. We planned a 3-sol plan, with contact science, imaging, environmental monitoring and a drive.
Similar to its namesake in Scotland, the Glen Torridon area on Mars affords us stunning vistas, but in our case, of the relatively low-lying clay bearing (from orbit) unit flanked to the north by the higher ground of the Vera Rubin Ridge and to the south, by Mount Sharp.
The accompanying image shows the target "Brent" in the lower right corner; it was analyzed with ChemCam and APXS, and imaged with MAHLI over the weekend.
Curiosity successfully completed her drive yesterday and is currently parked on top of one of the ridges ("Knockfarril Hill") in the clay-bearing unit.
This weekend's plan started off on Sol 2301 with some Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam analysis of "Loch Ness" and "Loch Skeen," examples of brown and gray bedrock.
Curiosity is continuing the first phase of its journey to the "clay-bearing unit," the low elevation portion in the middle distance of this Navcam image with a series of "touch-and-go" driving sols.
Curiosity has moved for the first time since December 13, 2018. More importantly, Curiosity is moving to a new geological unit that we have so far called the "Clay-Bearing Unit".
Sometimes the best laid plans of rovers go astray. After wrapping up at the Rock Hall drill site yesterday, the plan was for Curiosity to start driving towards the clay-bearing unit, starting with a series of small bumps so that MAHLI could take images of the full outer circumference of the wheels.
Today was our last day at "Rock Hall," so it was our final chance to get every last bit of science at this location. We had a 2.5 hour science block filled with Mastcam change detection imaging of the Rock Hall drill fines and alternating ChemCam RMI and LIBS observations of the Rock Hall dump pile, drill tailings, and target "St.Cyrus 2."
Today we planned a single sol of activities, Sol 2291. As we begin to wrap up our activities at the Rock Hall drill site, Sol 2291 is chock full of science observations. We'll begin the sol with an hour-long science block.
We will soon be leaving the Rock Hall area, thus this one last look at the drill site from a hazard camera perspective. Seeing those holes always is special, even for #19!
Our onboard instruments SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) and CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) have come to the end of their investigation of the Rock Hall target, likely to be our last drill location on the Vera Rubin Ridge, so this 2-sol plan is the beginning of the drill operation wrap up.
Today was a very smooth planning day on Mars, with the first scheduled science block in the plan being entirely filled by various spectroscopic ChemCam observations. The ChemCam instrument has the capabilities to be used in both passive and active modes, both of which were included in today's plan.
Today we are continuing the drill campaign at our red Jura target "Rock Hall." The focus of this weekend's plan is the dropoff of the Rock Hall sample to the SAM instrument, which will occur on Sol 2281.
The holiday planning completed successfully and included 10 sols of five-hour-long morning meteorological observations by REMS, during the period when more complex activities were precluded.
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