Tag Archives: Phyllosilicate Trough

Mars Curiosity celebrates Sol 2,000

Posted on March 22, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover just hit a new milestone: its two-thousandth Martian day, or sol, on the Red Planet. An image mosaic taken by the rover in January offers a preview of what comes next. Looming over the image is … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Tough rock, and the Phyllosilicate Trough, part 2

Posted on March 7, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1984, March 6, 2018. Tough rock ended Curiosity’s second drilling attempt, which produced only a shallow hole and a small tailings pile, seen in the MAHLI image above. At right, a Hazcam image shows both Lake Orcadie drill holes. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Drill tailings and Phyllosilicate Trough outcrops

Posted on March 5, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1981, March 3, 2018. Curiosity aimed the ChemCam’s Remote Micro-Imager into the Phyllosilicate Trough to document outcrops that may become future targets. At right, a Hazcam image from Sol 1983 (March 5) showing the drill tailing piles from Lake … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: North by northeast

Posted on January 30, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1950-51, January 29, 2018, update by MSL scientist Abigail Fraeman: We are back on Vera Rubin Ridge today after a short diversion into the phyllosilicate unit. Our workspace this morning contained rocks in various shades of red. The remote … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Looking into the Phyllosilicate Trough

Posted on January 30, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1949, January 29, 2018. The rover’s Navcam shot a composite that looks down into the low-lying area behind Vera Rubin Ridge. This is known as the Clay Unit or the Phyllosilicate Trough because clay minerals have been detected there … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Heading back to the main road

Posted on January 25, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1945-46, January 24, 2018, update by MSL scientist Scott Guzewich: Curiosity diverted from our primary “Mount Sharp Ascent Route” a couple weeks ago as we continued to investigate the outcrops of bluish-toned rock that are scattered around this region … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: The valley beyond the ridge

Posted on January 12, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1930, January 10, 2018. Curiosity’s Mastcam (34mm lens) shot a series of frames showing the valley that lies beyond Vera Rubin Ridge, above. (This valley has been dubbed informally the Phyllosilicate Trough.) Currently scientists are exploring the features atop … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off