Yesterday, the engineers uplinked the commands that instruct Curiosity to drill the "Groken" target. But, to borrow my fellow blogger’s image of this drilling: WHO WON? Curiosity or the rock? Not that we have any reason to believe that it was the rock… However, we did learn on "Vera Rubin Ridge" that some of the rocks can look benign and perfectly soft, but then won’t be drillable at all. Remember that "Voyageurs" drill target? Here you can read up all about it: “As Hard as a Rock.”

So, the science team is sitting on pins and needles right now – and will be hitting "F5" to refresh their screens when time comes to expect the data. Do we have a drill hole? We’ll find out when it is well past my bedtime here (I am in the UK…), but I surely will check first thing tomorrow morning when I wake up!

In today’s planning, we were planning for success of Curiosity (of course we do!), and planned the post-drill activities as follows: Mastcam will investigate the drill tailings with a multispectral analysis, and ChemCam will look at them with a passive observation. That leaves time for other activities in the plan, one of which is another LIBS observation on the target “Catpund.” This is on the same piece of rock and close to the drill target Groken. Thus, it will give us additional insight into this special site. ENV, this being the dust devil season, plans another dust devil movie and assessment of the opacity of the atmosphere.

Now, do I have you hitting "F5" regularly? I sure hope so! Tomorrow’s blog will know the answer, whether Groken is releasing its secrets to Curiosity! Keep hitting that refresh button!

Today's odyssey has us "fighting" (aka drilling) the bedrock to release the science at "Groken" which was turned to stone during its battle with the grim monsters "time" and "pressure!" Just before the drilling commences, ChemCam will take a 20x1 horizontal raster and Mastcam will take images of the pre-drill site. Looking towards far off lands and future endeavors up Mount Sharp, a ChemCam RMI 10x1 will expand the already large "Housedon Hill" mosaic that captures various marker beds and stratigraphy. Tune in later this week to hear the siren's call of fresh drill tailings and the mineralogy that will be the treasure for our intrepid Martian adventurer!

This weekend, Curiosity’s main task will be to continue preparing to collect and analyze a drilled sample from “Groken.” We will image the CheMin inlet (pictured above from sol 2853) with MAHLI at night to make sure the inlet is clean and ready to accept samples. We’ll also give the inlet a good shake beforehand to break up any clumps of powder from the Mary Anning 3 drilled sample that could have collected there during our last analysis.

We are also celebrating a soliday this weekend (a skipped day where Earth and Mars time zones sync up), so we only had two sols to plan today! On the first sol of the plan, sol 2908, we have a morning science block with a ChemCam observation of a target named “The Fara,” and we’ll take a few more Remote Micro-Imager frames to add to the ever expanding “Housedon Hill” mega-mosaic. We’ll also collect MAHLI and APXS observations of a target in front of the rover named “Trow.” On the second sol of the plan, sol 2909, we’ll take more ChemCam observations of targets named “The Cletts,” “The Barck,” and my personal favorite, “The Clumpers.” These will be accompanied by corresponding Mastcam images as well as a Mastcam multispectral observation of the Trow contact science target. Observations to monitor the environment are also sprinkled throughout both sols of the plan.

Happy solidays to all!

After a successful bump to our next planned drill location, Curiosity is poised to start its thorough investigation of this interesting geologic region. The team decided to perform a more detailed characterization of this location because of the presence of dark gray nodular features observed in this region. So, after maneuvering into position, Curiosity is ready to begin its characterization of the block in front of us and to prepare for drilling in the near future. After the first day’s characterization of this location, Curiosity will brush off the drill target with its Dust Removal Tool (DRT) and expose the cleaned surface for subsequent observations before drilling. In the Navcam image shown here, the selected drill location is located near the sand-free “point” of the large bedrock block just below the rover hardware at the bottom of the image.

Curiosity’s observations will include ChemCam LIBS observations of the selected drill location (named “Groken”) and two areas of an adjacent block of bedrock material (named “Hella” and “Great Skua”). These two additional LIBS chemistry observations will help to understand any potential lateral and vertical variations in geochemistry, as these targets are located very close to each other but on different sedimentary layers of the same unit.

Additional observations during this science plan include a Mastcam multispectral image of the brushed drill target (to characterize its reflectance signature and to see how it might differ from its surroundings and, eventually, its drilled interior), a high-resolution Mastcam mosaic of a nearby sediment patch to characterize any disturbances to it after drilling, and a long-distance image mosaic using the ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager.

The science team had some fun today in selecting the name “Groken” for the location planned for the next drill target. The verb “to grok” comes from Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel “Stranger in a Strange Land,” which follows a human raised on Mars who returns to Earth to learn about human culture. Broadly, “to grok” means to understand a topic deeply, intuitively, and empathetically, which has been the goal of the Curiosity rover mission since the beginning! We’re hoping that our study of the Groken drill target will allow us to grok the ancient history of Mars in a little more detail!

The arm diagnostic activities over the weekend, including MAHLI images and an APXS integration, were successful. This news gave Curiosity the green light to move - ever so slightly forward - from her double drill workspace at "Mary Anning” toward our next drill site near the “Ayton” target. Ayton itself and the immediate area around it have been the subject of many analyses, from MAHLI to APXS to ChemCam to Mastcam, since we arrived at the Mary Anning drill site. The team thought the prominent dark gray nodular features in this area warranted a more detailed look with a drill sample. Bumping toward Ayton was the main focus of the plan, but Curiosity will keep busy both before and after the short drive.

We start the plan gathering a bit more diagnostic data from the arm by testing out a few more systems on the turret and arm. After stowing the arm, Mastcam will acquire a couple of mosaics that have otherwise been occluded by the position of the arm during the diagnostic activities of the last several sols. Mastcam will image “Skelmorlie” in stereo. This sand target has been imaged several times to track the wind-induced changes, so today’s plan is the last time to document those changes before our own position changes. Another change detection observation will be acquired at “Upper Ollach,” a trough in the sand just off the left of the Mary Anning slab. The trough has changed dynamically under the competing forces of our drilling at Mary Anning and the slow, relentless action of the wind. Mastcam will also acquire four stereo images from the left side of the workspace, the last part of the Mary Anning site that has been hidden by the arm. ChemCam gets in on the imaging action by adding to the amazing mosaic of images from the "Housedon Hill” area east of the rover, one small piece of which is featured above.

With the arm free to move, MAHLI will take care of a couple of systematic check outs of the instrument. The first check out is courtesy of Mastcam, with three Mastcam images aimed at the MAHLI cover. The second check out is done by MAHLI herself in a series of images of the sky, some with the cover closed and some with the cover open. These are called sky flat images, which image a bland portion of the sky to track the amount of dust on the MAHLI cover and the MAHLI front lens.

After Curiosity bumps forward toward Ayton, she turns her attention to the sky again the next sol. Navcam and Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, Navcam will shoot a movie looking for dust devils spinning across Gale crater, and ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of the atmosphere. ChemCam will also pick up a systematic measurement of their titanium calibration target.

Here’s to a (slightly) new world!

The first order of business for this three-sol plan is to continue with arm diagnostic activities that could give Curiosity the all clear to bump to the next drill target at this location in the coming week. This still leaves plenty of time, power and data volume to plan a number of science activities. These include continued characterization of the composition of the rock and soil at this location, with ChemCam LIBS on “Skaw Beach” (soil target), “Wart” (resistant features in the bedrock) and “Balallan” (bedrock), accompanied by Mastcam documentation imaging. ChemCam will also capture some more RMI frames to add to the ongoing mosaic of the distant “Housedon Hill” area on Mount Sharp. The RMI mosaic will help the geologists on the team discern structures and textures within the rocks exposed in this area of Mount Sharp, which in turn might help us better understand their geological history.

As well as studying the ancient processes that formed the rocks in Gale crater, Curiosity also monitors the current environment. Such activities in this plan include Mastcam imaging of the nearby “Upper Ollach” sand and pebble target as part of an ongoing change detection campaign to monitor movement of loose material by the wind. Mastcam will also image the crater rim, and along with Navcam, the sky, to monitor dust and opacity of the atmosphere. A Navcam movie will also be acquired to record any dust devil activity.

Finally, there is a CheMin empty cell and clean up activity on the last sol, in preparation for our next drill campaign. Standard REMS, RAD and DAN passive and active measurements are also planned.

Tomorrow on Mars, we will celebrate 2900 sols on Mars with the Curiosity Rover!

The priority in today’s two-sol plan is the completion of the back-to-back atmospheric measurements by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM). SAM will be analyzing the methane content of the nighttime Mars atmosphere using its tunable laser spectrometer. This will help to fill in our understanding of the seasonal changes in the atmosphere.

In addition to the very power-intense SAM activity, we were also able to squeeze in some additional remote science observations on the second sol of the plan. ChemCam added several frames to the ongoing RMI mosaic of the target “Housedon Hill” (a.k.a. Housedon) – a target on the higher levels of Mount Sharp – in order to better understand the geology. These frames will be added to the dozens already taken. We also planned a Mastcam clast survey, and will take images to look for changes in the workspace during the time we have been parked at "Mary Anning." The second sol also included a short set of environmental observations, including a short Navcam dust devil movie, a Navcam line-of-sight, and a Mastcam basic tau.

And with all that, we made sure we still had enough power for the rover planners to add some additional arm diagnostics to the plan.

A “marker bed” is an important concept in sedimentary geology. It is a bed of rock strata that are easily distinguished and are traceable over a long horizontal distance. A marker bed is very useful in determining the chronological order of geological events and correlating them from one location to another. Rock strata that lie above the marker bed in one location are assumed to have been deposited later than rock strata that are seen below the marker bed, even if the two sets of strata are many kilometers distant from each other, as long as the marker bed is seen in both locations. One particular bed on the lower part of Mt. Sharp is visible in orbital images over a significant fraction of the circumference of the mountain. It had been noted in the scientific literature already several years ago. Ultimately, this marker bed could be used to tie the chronology of strata observed up close by the Curiosity rover to other parts of Gale Crater, for example, regions many kilometers to the south along the slopes of Mt. Sharp.

Nearly a month ago the team started taking RMI images to study the stratigraphy of some sedimentary benches about 100-200 meters from the rover’s current location. The pointing was a little high on the first set of images and ChemCam’s telescope, which is programmed to focus automatically on whatever is at the center of the image, ended up focusing on the marker bed in the background several kilometers away. We eventually got the appropriate images of the benches, but in the meantime, the team decided to take more images of the marker bed. Curiosity is not expected to explore the region around the marker bed for another couple of years, and so in the meantime, these images will provide interesting data for interpretation. The RMI image displayed above, taken on Sol 2893, is part of a large mosaic. It clearly shows Mt. Sharp’s notable marker bed as the broad dark band stretching across the lower third of the image.

Today the team planned rover operations for two Sols. The Remote Sensing Mast encountered a minor issue over the weekend, precluding a few activities from the previous Sol, including ChemCam AEGIS observations and ChemCam and Mastcam observations of a float rock, “Darvaig.” The latter observations are replanned for the current uplink. ChemCam is continuing its large “Housedon Hill” RMI mosaic, mentioned above, adding fifteen new images. Mastcam will image previous ChemCam targets “Duachy” and “Duntulm.” It will also perform some deck imaging and observe its calibration targets. Some arm diagnostic activities are being commanded; stereo slip assessment will be performed by the Hazcam imagers, both front and rear; the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument (SAM) will analyze a sample of the atmosphere with its mass spectrometers and study the carbon dioxide isotopic ratios in the atmosphere with its tunable laser spectrometer. Weather observations include a Navcam zenith movie, a suprahorizon movie, a dust devil movie, a crater rim extinction Mastcam image, and a Mastcam sun tau measurement. RAD and REMS will collect data.

On Curiosity, we regularly look at the atmosphere with ChemCam using a “Passive Sky” observation. Among other things, this allows us to measure the amount of some trace gases in the atmosphere above us, including water vapor and oxygen. Those measurements, now spanning several Mars years, have revealed that oxygen abundances in Gale crater don’t always follow the expected seasonal variation. Possible explanations are that there may be unexpected local or distant oxygen sources or sinks, or unexpected chemical reactions.

Fortunately, the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) instrument on the Trace Gas Orbiter is observing the atmosphere over Gale crater twice this month, giving us an opportunity to do some rare joint observations of oxygen abundance from the surface and from orbit. The ACS measurements will tell us how oxygen varies with altitude, down to about 10 kilometers above the surface. If their lowest altitude measurements are very different to what we measure with ChemCam, that might suggest lots of local surface-atmosphere exchange of oxygen is occurring, which would be exciting. We already had one pair of observations back on sol 2880, but a second pair will happen early on sol 2894. We’re hoping that - between these four observations - we’ll be able to understand better the oxygen variations we see.

For Sols 2894-2897 planning, we found out that there was an issue with the arm that prevented us from using it today, so we planned observations that don’t require it. These included three ChemCam LIBS targets (“Duachy,” a diagenetic nodule; “Duntulum,” and “Dervaig”), a ChemCam 12x1 RMI of “Housedon Hill” to finish up long-range imaging of the area, a ChemCam doc image of Dervaig, and a multispectral Mastcam image of the Duachy / Duntulum frame. Mastcam also looked at a clast survey area, to search for aeolian changes since we last looked there on Sol 2878 (see image). Finally, we included measurements of dust and water ice abundances and properties (with Navcam and Mastcam), searches for dust devils and clouds with Navcam, and the usual REMS, DAN, and RAD.

As we continue to finish our drilling activities – among other things by taking a look at the instrument inlets on top of the rover deck to make sure no sample is remaining on the mesh or elsewhere where we can see – we are already on the look out for the nearby target "Ayton." We want to drill there too, to follow up the chemical changes we have observed in the area. Maybe Mars is going to tell us something really interesting here? All those nodules must mean something, but just exactly what we cannot tell without full mineralogy. Geologists love images, but occasionally mineralogy is the other friend we want to see, too! One of the questions is in what ways the nodules are similar or different from nodules we have seen previously. And with "Mary Anning" drill holes so close by, we can also compare the two, which will further enhance our science opportunities. As a geochemist and modeler, I am certainly very excited and have sharpened the (digital) pencil to get going on my modelling as soon as I can!

In today’s plan, however, we do play with geologist’s best friend a lot: first, we wrap up some of the mosaic-observations we have started (and taken advantage of the fact that we stay in one place for a while during a drill campaign). Mastcam is adding two sets of stereo images to the tally at this location to further investigate the morphology of the workspace and to fill a gap at an interesting spot for a full analysis of the structures in the workspace. In addition, we continue our change detection observations at "Upper Ollach."

ChemCam is also used for imaging, doing a Remote Micro Imager long distance observation to extend the mosaic my fellow blogger Rachel has talked about.

APXS is looking forward and investigating a target near the new drill site at Ayton. The target’s name is "Underhoul" and APXS is accompanied by MAHLI investigations. ENV is still monitoring the atmosphere closely, with observations of the dust and opacity. Lots of images, happy dance from all geologists!