Curiosity update: Exploring Harlaw Rise

Sol 2454, July 1, 2019, update by MSL scientist Melissa Rice: Curiosity is currently near the top of Harlaw Rise, having made a slight diversion from the southward drive through the clay-bearing unit to explore the nice exposures of rocks on this hill. In today’s plan, Curiosity will investigate two rock targets in front of the rover: “Perth,” on the block in the lower left of the image above, and “Aberdeen,” on the smoother surface near the far right-hand side of the image. There is only enough time in this plan to put the arm on one of these two targets, so Perth will get a closer look with the MAHLI microscopic imager and APXS instrument, and “Aberdeen” will get shot by the ChemCam laser. The Mastcam cameras will document both targets. After that, Curiosity will make a short drive further up the hill to a spot where both of these rock types might be better exposed… [More at link]