Curiosity: Zapping Ailsa Craig

Sol 2125, July 29, 2018. Penetrating the rock at Ailsa Craig, like that at Voyageurs, proved to be too difficult for Curiosity’s drill. So mission scientists turned the ChemCam’s laser zapper onto the shallow hole and loose tailings, as the Remote Micro-Imager camera shows. Note how the energy of the laser vaporizing a bit of rock blows away dust and tailings. Click image to enlarge it.

Sol 2125 raw images (from all cameras).