Curiosity update: ‘Brushing dust at Alexander Hills’

Sol 823-825, November 26, 2014. “While everyone is recovering from their Thanksgiving meals, Curiosity will be feasting on some exciting science targets at the Alexander Hills! We are on our second pass at the Pahrump Hills, and on this pass we are using the instruments on the robotic arm to investigate several key outcrops in more detail. This weekend we’re focusing on the Alexander Hills. In the previous plan we used the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) to brush off the dust at a target named Mescal to expose a fresh surface. This Navcam image from Sol 819 [right] shows the arm extended while investigating Mescal. Over the weekend 3-sol plan, we’ll use the ChemCam instrument to learn about the composition of the targets Mescal and Horned Toad, and we’ll also acquire some Mastcam images to document those targets…” [More at link]