Sols 2390-93, April 26, 2019, update by MSL scientist Lucy Thompson: We started planning in eager anticipation of the preliminary results from our downlink and whether the CheMin X-ray diffraction spectrometer received enough sample of the “Kilmarie” drill sample to successfully complete a first night of analysis.
Less than 40 minutes after downlink, we got confirmation from the CheMin team that they did indeed receive enough material. This meant that we could proceed with the two highest priority activities in the plan; the second night of CheMin analysis of the Kilmarie drill sample, and a SAM preconditioning activity in preparation for delivery of sample for a SAM Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) experiment in the coming week’s plan.
The CheMin instrument informs us of the mineralogy of the sample, which can give us clues about the source of the rock sample, the conditions under which it formed and any subsequent alteration events. It will be interesting to compare the mineralogy of Kilmarie with the nearby “Aberlady” drill hole…. [More at link]