Curiosity update: Rolling southward!

NLB_616421485EDR_F0762080NCAM00257M_-br2Sols 2468-69, July 16, 2019, update by MSL scientist Catherine O’Connell-Cooper: Curiosity finished up our investigation at Harlaw Rise on the weekend, and commenced our drive to an area we are (informally) calling the “Southern Outcrop,” another of the ridge features that are so prominent in this part of Glen Torridon. This drive was split into a number of shorter drive segments. Our weekend drive brought us to a very rubbly workspace, with lots of small pebbles. These pebbles may be small but are geochemically interesting and add to our understanding of the geology here, so we are analyzing a pebble (about 4 cm along its long axis) called “Paible,” before continuing on our way southward. APXS and ChemCam will both investigate the chemistry, and Mastcam and MAHLI will take colour images, giving us a full suite of observations to help with interpretation of this target. Mastcam will be taking a large image of an area of brighter rocks called “Sandside Harbor” at the Southern Outcrop.

Post-drive imaging of the new workspace will support contact science if we find ourselves in an interesting location, and a routine end of drive image of the ground at the back of the front left wheel will catalog changes in rock, soil and pebble populations. On the night of the second sol, CheMin will do some routine housekeeping activities ahead of a potential drill campaign, atop the Southern Outcrop in the coming weeks… [More at link]

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