It’s a not-so-spooky Halloween on Mars this weekend as Curiosity continues working toward the sulfate unit of Mt. Sharp while conducting science along the way. This weekend, we’ll have contact science at “Garth Ness” (the rock directly in front of the arm in this Navcam image) with MAHLI and APXS. ChemCam will continue the ness-essary weekend science with LIBS targets on “Fugla Ness,” “Stennes,” “Dunrossness,” and “Noness.” ENV will have a routine weekend with our weekly morning meteorological observations and searches for dust devils. We’re in a time of year where dust devils are particularly frequent, and we want to watch for them as we approach the large sand sheet that Curiosity will be studying later up close to see if dust devils are moving sand around. We’ll then drive onward toward our next stop.

Sometimes in geology, as in life, it helps to look at the same thing from different perspectives. Accordingly, this plan sees us getting very close to “Maybole” (the first of a series of resistant elongated rock features that we call "benches" in this area) and then pulling way back and looking again.

First, MAHLI will acquire a series of 15 images, focused on “Hedgehope Hill” in the upper left of the Mastcam image shown above. This sequence of images (known affectionately as a “MAHLI Dog's Eye”) will allow the compilation of a mosaic 40-centimeter long, at a standoff (distance from the rock surface) of 15-20 centimeters, which will give a wealth of detailed information. Using the mosaic, sedimentologists can determine details about everything from grain sizes and shapes to small scale sedimentary structures in this laminated rock. Then, once we finish our other objectives here, we will drive around 40 meters to a new location for the weekend, where Mastcam will image Maybole and the area to its east. Combining both the very detailed mosaic and the longer distance imagery will help us to understand the stratigraphy and to hopefully gain valuable insights into the evolution of these resistant bench features.

As the mosaic will take a full hour to acquire, we had to practice restraint for the rest of the plan! GEO planned active ChemCam LIBS analysis on two targets here, “Tingwall” towards the top of the Maybole ledge and “Ting” towards the bottom. Mastcam will take further images of the Maybole outcrop, including documentation of the ChemCam targets. ENV will take standard Navcam dust devil movies and document the dust in the atmosphere, via a Mastcam tau (opacity) measurement.

At our new location for the weekend, Mastcam and Navcam will survey the workspace, getting post-drive workspace imagery to facilitate science observations in the weekend plan.

The short drive or "bump" that was planned for Sol 2924 went well, placing the rover on a relatively steep slope right next to the "Maybole" outcrop.

Every time we prepare to deploy MSL's arm, the risk of the wheels slipping due to the change in the vehicle's center of gravity must be assessed. Today that assessment was more difficult than usual because of the ~26-degree rover tilt and the proximity of the outcrop, making it a challenging day for the tactical team and a sometimes stressful one for me as SOWG Chair. But ultimately we got the "go" from the experts assessing the slip risk, and we did not have to remove any arm activities from the plan.

Before the arm will be deployed on Sol 2925, Navcam will search for dust devils and Mastcam and Navcam will measure the opacity of dust in the atmosphere. Then ChemCam will measure the elemental chemistry of targets dubbed "Bister" and "Fittie" and the Right Mastcam will take documentary images of both ChemCam targets. Mastcam will then acquire a 3 x 1 stereo mosaic of a small crater named "Crubba" before the rover takes a brief nap. Later in the afternoon, MAHLI will acquire a full suite of images of the outcrop target "Bablin" before the APXS is placed near that target for a short evening integration. APXS will then be placed directly on the Bablin target for a long, overnight integration, during which CheMin will return data from its most recent measurement of the "Groken" drill sample.

The planning team this morning was excited to see the view ahead of Curiosity after a weekend drive away from our parking spot for the last three months. However, we were all a little apprehensive as we awaited the downlink from MRO to confirm that the drive had taken place. Relief; the downlink confirmed that the drive executed as planned, placing Curiosity ~3-4 m from the “Maybole” outcrop. The geologists have been interested in getting closer to this rock exposure for some time, as it represents one of a series of unusual ledges present in this area. Do these ledges represent a slightly different rock type to the more typical low relief terrain? Are they more cemented and harder than surrounding rocks? Might they provide clues as to what is happening as we get closer to the sulfate unit, that we are on route to?

To better observe the textures such as bedding, laminations, any cross laminations, veins or resistant features the team planned a large Mastcam stereo mosaic of Maybole. And to get a head start on what the chemistry of these rocks is, ChemCam will shoot the target “Hollandstoun” on the right front face of the outcrop (centre of image) in an area that we hope to target with our contact science instruments in the next plan.

Much of our discussion during planning revolved around trying to pick the best area on the Maybole outcrop to drive to in order to examine the rocks with our contact science instruments on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm. We need to balance our science objectives with what can be achieved by the rover with respect to driving close to the rock face, safely unstowing the arm, and being able to place the MAHLI and APXS close to, or on the rock face. Luckily, the area that the team is most interested in from a scientific perspective appears to be reachable by the rover. The planned drive tosol should place us in a prime position to interrogate the Maybole rocks for fine-scale textures with MAHLI, and chemistry with APXS, in the next plan. To give us another hint at the chemistry of the Maybole rocks prior to placing APXS, a post-drive ChemCam AEGIS observation will be acquired. A planned post-drive MARDI image should also give us a sense of what the ground beneath our wheels looks like.

The environmental group was also busy planning observations of the atmosphere. These will include a ChemCam passive sky observation and a Navcam dust devil survey and line of sight observation. Standard REMS, RAD, DAN passive and active measurements were also planned.

As the APXS strategic planner this week, I am excited at the prospect of putting the APXS down on these interesting rocks at Maybole and seeing what geochemical secrets they yield!

We are finally planning to drive away after finishing up at the “Groken” drill hole location, so it was an exciting planning day for me as Science Operations Working Group (SOWG) chair. On Sol 2921, MAHLI will take an image of the APXS target on the sample dump pile, then ChemCam's RMI will take some images of the drill bit after it was successfully used to create three drill holes on the Mary Anning/Groken bedrock block. APXS will be placed on the Groken drill tailings for an overnight integration, then MAHLI will take an image of that target on Sol 2922. Another MAHLI "selfie" is planned for Sol 2922, followed by ChemCam LIBS rasters on bedrock targets "Scaraben" and "Ness." Then the RMI will acquire a 13-frame extension of the "Housedon Hill" mosaic and the Right Mastcam will image the two LIBS targets. The Navcams will be used to search for dust devils and measure atmospheric extinction along with Mastcam. Overnight, CheMin will perform another analysis of the Groken drill sample, then Mastcam will look for changes at the "Upper Ollach" target on Sol 2923. Then, at long last, MSL will drive almost 60 meters toward the "Maybole" outcrop to the south. The post-drive imaging will include an 8x3 Left Mastcam mosaic that will help the tactical team select contact science and drive targets on Monday. Finally, MARDI will take an image of the surface behind the left front wheel during twilight. It's been a productive and interesting drill campaign, but it will be good to get back on the road again!

We are in the homestretch of our time at the “Mary Anning” and “Groken” drill sites, and today’s plan checks off some of the final important boxes to complete our analyses here before we head back uphill. With sample delivered to SAM, we will clear the remaining sample out of the drill and have a look at the discarded sample with MAHLI and APXS. The chemistry of the Groken drill sample from APXS will be combined with the mineralogy determined by CheMin and the volatile contents determined by SAM to build a comprehensive picture of the origin and history of this part of "Gale Crater." MAHLI will also look at the Groken drill hole tailings, which have been somewhat scattered by the wind since we created them on Sol 2910.

We will also look around and beyond the drill target with our remote sensing instruments. ChemCam will acquire chemistry from the target “Vord,” a clean, broken surface exposed during the drill activity. We do not often get such new, dust-free surfaces on Mars so we like to take advantage of clean looks at their chemistry and texture. ChemCam will add to the extensive, spectacular collection of RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area east of the rover, which reveal a real wonderland of geology within Mount Sharp. Mastcam and Navcam will combine forces to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and look for dust devils and clouds. The steady gazes of DAN, RAD and REMS remain fixed on the skies above us and subsurface below us as the other instruments do their work, continuing to build their records of the environment in Gale crater.

The science team decided to stay at the Groken drill location (as seen in the above Hazcam image) a little bit longer to let SAM have a taste of this interesting sample. Today’s one-sol plan is focused on dropping off 4 portions of the Groken sample to SAM and then conducting an evolved gas analysis. But SAM can also be pretty power-hungry (that’s what happens when you’re working day and night!), so there wasn’t much room in the plan for other activities. That means it was a short but sweet day of planning for me as SOWG Chair, but I’m excited to learn what SAM thinks of this sample! We’ll pick up some additional science activities in tomorrow’s plan. The science team is also getting ready for our virtual team meeting which will take place tomorrow and Thursday. While I miss seeing everyone in person, I look forward to “meeting on Mars” to discuss recent results and upcoming plans!

Over the weekend, the rover analyzed our latest drill sample, “Groken,” with the CheMin instrument to look at what minerals it contained. Planning what the rover does next based on new results is often a marriage between what additional science we want to do now in trade for what new discoveries we can make later. In our case, the science team is excited to move on farther up Mt. Sharp, while also wanting to understand the new drill hole results with greater fidelity. Since the results were interesting , the science team decided to look for ‘something new’ now by running the rest of the remaining sample through SAM for an evolved gas analysis (EGA) to tease out the intricate chemistry of the rock. The ‘something old’ will be ten more ChemCam RMI images for the “Housedon Hill” mosaic of distant stratigraphy. ‘Something new’ also includes a second ChemCam target on “Vord,” the rock broken by the drill, including a ‘not so blue’ Mastcam color document image, as well as a dust devil search movie. Here’s to some new data this week, while also looking forward to a future drive!

Curiosity is mostly chilling out this weekend while we continue to investigate the latest drill hole, “Groken,” and the sample we collected in this nodule-rich corner of the rock (the nodules are the dark areas in the image). In the process of drilling, Curiosity broke the rock, which can sometimes happen when we are close to an edge, but still collected enough sample to perform detailed analyses.

In Wednesday’s plan, sample was delivered to CheMin for analysis in order to determine the composition of the nodules. The preliminary results look good – we have a full cell and a strong signal. The top priority is to do more CheMin analysis on the sample and improve the data before deciding whether to deliver sample to SAM. This meant the rover planners a well-deserved day off before resuming the sampling campaign activities next week.

In addition to CheMin, ChemCam and Mastcam are also being targeted on the area around the drill hole - on “Villians,” “Vond,” and “Clibberswick” - to support the investigation into the nodules by examining local variability. ChemCam is also taking more high resolution RMI images of the “Housedon Hill” area to help us test hypotheses and inform where we should go in the Mt. Sharp sulfate unit.

As we’re now fully into the windy and dust storm season at Gale Crater, we’ve tasked Curiosity with a lot of environmental observations. Atmospheric observations include standard Mastcam crater rim extinction, cloud movies, zenith movies, and taus (dust opacity measurements) , as well as Navcam line of sight imaging and a suprahorizon movie. We’re keeping a sharp eye out for dust devils with both Navcam and Mastcam dust devil movies. Lastly, we’re looking at local changes with Mastcam deck monitoring and change detection on the “Upper Ollach” trench target.

Nope, that’s not a red star hanging low in the sky. Right now, Mars is one of the brightest objects in the sky, outshining even Jupiter (the waning Moon and late rising Venus will make it even easier to see Mars in all her glory), due to the close timing of both the Martian opposition and perihelion.

Opposition (when Mars and the Sun appear to be on opposite sides of the sky) occurs every 26 months. Mars appears to rise in the east as the Sun sets in the west, not setting until the Sun rises again in the east. As per NASA, every 15-17 years, opposition occurs within a few weeks of Mars’ perihelion, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the sun, which occurred this year on Aug. 3^rd. Closest approach to Earth occurred on Oct. 6^th, when Mars was a mere 38.6 million miles from Earth (closest approach in 15 years, not to be beaten until 2052) and full opposition on Oct. 13^th. Mars and Curiosity feel almost close enough to touch!

Whilst we gaze upwards admiring the result of this “perihelic opposition” (not to be repeated until 2035), Curiosity will be hard at work, taming the “Groken,” our 29^th successful drill hole on Mars. Today’s plan saw us transition into the analysis part of our drill campaign sol path. We have practiced this quite a bit now, having drilled six holes in the past 9 months, three of which are on the bedrock slab in front of us (see image above). Sample will be delivered to CheMin to determine the mineralogical composition of this sample. Although Curiosity is currently closer to home than at any point in her mission, we will still have to wait until the weekend for the results. As we wait, ChemCam is documenting the drill hole, and some additional bedrock targets here, along a fracture in the drilled bedrock (“Fladdabister” and “Glendaruel”) and on a neighboring bedrock slab (“Melby Fish Beds”). Mastcam will document the ChemCam targets, in addition to taking images of the CheMin inlet before and after the sample is dropped off, and a tau (atmospheric opacity) measurement for the ENV group.

Mars will not be this close again until 2035, so get out this week and wave at Curiosity before Mars starts to wander back outwards, moving slowly but surely away from us.