Tag Archives: Big Sky

Curiosity update: ‘MAHLI selfie’

Posted on October 6, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1126, October 5, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: MSL did well last weekend, but the Sol 1124 MAHLI images of the unsieved part of the drill sample showed that the APXS was not perfectly centered on the … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Zapping Big Sky

Posted on October 6, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1124, October 5, 2015. Small laser zap pits go down the wall of the drill hole at Big Sky, while similar zaps into the drill tailings excavate wider pits because the material is loose. This MAHLI image was taken … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: ‘Drill hole and tailings’

Posted on October 3, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1123-1125, October 2, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: The weekend plan includes lots of arm activities and science.  First, on Sol 1123, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the drill hole and tailings, plus targets named “Frontier,” “Floweree,” “Bozeman,” … Continue reading →

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Curiosity’s drill hole & location: picture perfect

Posted on October 2, 2015 by rburnham

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drilled its eighth hole on Mars, and its fifth since reaching Mount Sharp one year ago. The drilling of the hole 2.6-inches (65 millimeters) deep in a rock the team labeled “Big … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Big Sky, before and after

Posted on October 2, 2015 by rburnham

Sols 1119 and 1121, September 29 and October 1, 2015. Two Hazcam frames taken on different sols show, first, the arm positioning the drill over the Big Sky target, and then the test and the full drill holes side by … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: ‘Successful drill at Big Sky’

Posted on October 1, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1121-1122, September 30, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: Success! Our drill at “Big Sky” went perfectly! On Sol 1121, the rover will transfer some of the powder from Big Sky to CheMin so that it can begin … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: ‘Go for full drill at Big Sky!’

Posted on September 29, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1119-1120, September 28, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: As you can see, our mini-drill over the weekend went well, so we are GO for drilling “Big Sky” on sol 1119! The hope is that this location will … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Odd erosion remnants

Posted on September 29, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1117, September 27, 2015.  The Mastcam’s two lenses (34mm and 100mm) shot portraits of an oddly eroded piece of the terrain. Above is the closeup view from the 100mm lens, below is the area around it, taken with the … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Mini-start drill hole on Big Sky

Posted on September 28, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1117, September 27, 2015. The rover’s Mars Hand lens Imager (MAHLI) shows the result of the test hole in Big Sky, carried out to determine if the rock is capable of being drilled fully. Click to enlarge. Sol 1117 … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: ‘Small drill, Big Sky’

Posted on September 26, 2015 by rburnham

Sol 1116-1118, September 25, 2015, update from USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: It’s time to drill again! After much deliberation, we have decided to try drilling the target “Big Sky” at our current location, in hopes of getting a good sample … Continue reading →

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