Sol 1950-51, January 29, 2018, update by MSL scientist Abigail Fraeman: We are back on Vera Rubin Ridge today after a short diversion into the phyllosilicate unit. Our workspace this morning contained rocks in various shades of red. The remote sensing and contact science observations we planned today are designed to investigate the chemistry, spectral properties, and fine scale textures associated with these color changes.
We chose one contact science target, “Balmedie,” that we will brush and observe with MAHLI and APXS. This rock was one of the only rocks in the workspace that was big enough to safely brush, and the observations we take will provide information about the properties of the bedrock in the area. We will also take a Mastcam multispectral observation of Balmedie and its surroundings. After the contact science block, we will collect ChemCam observations of bedrock targets that have different colors, “Killiecrankie” and “Bennachie,” and an RMI mosaic of a distant target on Mt. Sharp named “Muchalls.” Mastcam… [More at link]