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Sols 4393-4395: Weekend Work on the Base of Texoli Butte
Earth planning date: Friday, Dec. 13, 2024
Curiosity continues to make nice progress over the Mount Sharp bedrock and can spend the weekend investigating the northern base of the “Texoli” butte. The science workforce again on Earth loved taking within the lovely views of close by “Wilkerson” butte and “Gould Mesa” whereas digging into the workspace in entrance of us to create a hefty to-do record for our roving geologist on Mars.
The rocks on the rover’s wheels at this time consisted of dusty, pale-colored bedrock that had a variety of textures. We used the mud removing software (DRT), MAHLI, and APXS devices to characterize lighter, easy bedrock at “Calabasas Peak,” and barely darker, rougher bedrock at “Triunfo Canyon.” The ChemCam workforce used the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to investigate the composition of the rougher bedrock at “Chilao” and a vein that cuts by way of the bedrock at “Ojai,” and Mastcam supplied the supporting documentation pictures of every goal.
The Mastcam workforce assembled quite a lot of pictures and mosaics within the workspace and past. Two stereo mosaics documented the community of fractures within the bedrock at “Fern Dell” whereas a stereo mosaic of “Amir’s Backyard” will probably be used to look at doable deformation within the rocks. A couple of single-frame pictures of troughs within the workspace will probably be used to research energetic floor processes. Additional within the distance, Mastcam created a stereo mosaic of “Jawbone Canyon” to picture potential aeolian ripples, and supported a ChemCam long-distance RMI picture of a crater within the drive course referred to as “Grant Lake.” Lastly, ChemCam deliberate a long-distance RMI picture to get a more in-depth have a look at the constructions inside Gould Mesa.
Curiosity will drive 44 meters (about 144 ft) to the west over the weekend as we proceed to shut in on the intriguing boxwork constructions. Lastly, the environmental group rounded out the plan with actions together with cloud observations, dust-devil monitoring, and surveys of the quantity of mud within the environment.
Written by: Sharon Wilson Purdy, Planetary Geologist on the Smithsonian Nationwide Air and Area Museum
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Sourcing information and pictures from nasa.gov/information
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