Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington College in St. Louis
Earth planning date: Monday, June 23, 2025
Curiosity was again at work on Monday, with a full slate of actions deliberate. Whereas summer time has formally arrived for a lot of Curiosity’s workforce again on Earth, Mars’ eldest lively rover is not too long ago by way of the depths of southern Mars winter and trending towards hotter temperatures itself. Hotter temperatures imply much less part heating is required and due to this fact extra energy is freed up for science and driving. Nonetheless, the present cooler temperatures do current a chance to accumulate high quality short-duration APXS measurements very first thing within the morning, which is what Curiosity elected to do as soon as once more.
Curiosity’s plan commenced by brushing a rock goal with potential cross-cutting veins, “Hornitos,” and subsequently analyzing it with APXS. A sequence of Mastcam pictures adopted on targets comparable to “Volcán Peña Blanca,” “La Pacana,” “Iglesia de Jarinilla de Umatia,” and “Ayparavi.” ChemCam, returning to motion after a short and understood hiatus, rounded out the morning’s chemical evaluation actions with a 5-point evaluation of Ayparavi. After some pictures of the comb, and a handful of MAHLI snaps of Hornitos, Curiosity was on its manner with a deliberate drive of about 37 meters (about 121 toes).Curiosity’s evening wouldn’t be spent completely dreaming of no matter rovers dream, however reasonably conducting a prolonged APXS evaluation of the ambiance. These analyses allow Curiosity’s workforce to assess the abundance of argon within the ambiance — from a quantity in regards to the dimension of a pop can (or soda can, relying in your unit of choice) — which can be utilized to hint international circulation patterns and higher perceive fashionable Mars. Not too long ago, Curiosity has been growing the frequency of those measurements and pairing them with ChemCam “Passive Sky” observations. These ChemCam actions don’t make the most of the instrument’s laser, however as an alternative use its different elements to characterize the air above the rover. By combining APXS and ChemCam observations of the ambiance, Curiosity’s workforce is ready to higher assess day by day and seasonal traits in gases round Gale crater. A ChemCam “Passive Sky” was the first commentary within the second sol of the plan, with Curiosity spending a lot of the remaining time recharging and eagerly awaiting instructions from Wednesday’s workforce.
