Curiosity update: Welcome to Torridon!

Sol 1897-98, December 6, 2017, update by MSL scientist Rachel Kronyak: As indicated by our long wheel tracks in the Navcam image above, our planned ~25-meter drive on Sol 1896 was successful, bringing us to another stop along our route on the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR). We’ll actually spend a few days at this stop, where we plan to assess the surrounding bedrock, soil, and what we think might be a small impact crater.

The bedrock around the rover at this stop is quite rubbly, which made choosing targets for APXS and MAHLI measurements slightly more difficult, as it’s often hard to place the arm in contact with rough surfaces. Nevertheless, we planned a very busy 2 sols of science activities! We’ll spend Sol 1897 using the robotic arm to collect APXS and MAHLI data on 2 bedrock targets (named “Muck” and “Wick”) and a soil target named “Sandness.” Overnight on Sol 1897, we’ll be conducting a SAM preconditioning activity that will set us up to perform an exciting geochrononology experiment over the weekend on our stored “Ogunquit Beach” sand sample. [More at link]