20 March 2017

Sol 1643: First half of long-baseline stereo

Posted by Ryan Anderson

Curiosity drove about 28 meters toward the south on Sol 1642 and again is in an area with Murray Formation bedrock blocks surrounded by dark sand.  I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and we settled on a target called “Vinalhaven” at the left side of the layered bedrock exposure seen at upper left in this image.  Right Mastcam will image Vinalhaven and coarse material to the right of that bedrock block, at targets named “Rindgemere” and “Hurd Mountain.”  Then Right Mastcam will image more distant targets, with a 3×1 mosaic of a layered rock about 11 meters away dubbed “Saint Daniel” and a 28×1 mosaic of the hematite-bearing “Vera Rubin Ridge” in the distance.  This latter mosaic is the first half of a long-baseline stereo observation that should allow the topography of Vera Rubin Ridge to be measured more accurately than is possible using standard Mastcam stereo images.  The long baseline will be achieved by moving the rover between Mastcam observations.

Another drive is planned for Sol 1643, followed by the standard post-drive imaging plus Left Mastcam imaging of the arm workspace to support possible contact science in the next plan.  Later in the afternoon, Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, and ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select a target and acquire data.

By Ken Herkenhoff

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.