3 October 2017

Sol 1835: Limpopo, Ecca, and Lucknow

Posted by Ryan Anderson

Curiosity’s 13.8 meter drive yestersol brought the rover a few meters higher on Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) to a bit of a plateau. From here we can see over to the clay-rich unit beyond the ridge, and we can see more of the debris fan of the outflow channel that descends from Mt. Sharp, as seen in the accompanying Navcam image.

Today, for Sol 1835, we planned to remain stationary to allow a maximum of contact observations. This will include APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam observations of two targets: a purplish ‘Ecca’ and a tan-colored ‘Lucknow.’ The DRT will be used on both targets; ‘Ecca’ will have the longer overnight observation by APXS. Mastcam will use its right-side imager to document these two targets and will obtain mosaics on ‘Limpopo’ and a region of the next stop of VRR. Mastcam will also take left and right multispectral images of Katburg, a target that was observed by other instruments yestersol. The plan also includes DAN passive, and REMS and RAD get-data.

Written by Roger Wiens, Geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory ChemCam PI