Exploring the Red Planet: A Weekend of Science and Discovery with NASA’s Curiosity Rover

This weekend, we decided to continue our exploration at the same location we’ve been studying all week. Although we were eager to discover new terrain, we still had plenty of interesting science targets to keep us busy.

On the first day of our weekend plan (Sol 1961), we had a packed science block that included a series of ChemCam observations. We conducted LIBS measurements on bedrock targets “Glenfinnan” and “Skara Brae,” captured a long-distance RMI image of the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, and took a passive measurement of “Bloodstone Hill.” Additionally, we scheduled a Mastcam image to document the LIBS targets and another Mastcam image for change detection. We also planned to take repeat Mastcam images of the same target area over multiple sols in order to monitor any changes or movements. Lastly, we aimed to capture a Navcam movie to observe dust devils in the area.

In the evening, we scheduled MAHLI nighttime images of Glenfinnan and Skara Brae to examine the small-scale features within the rocks. The dust cleared by our LIBS observations during the day would provide a clearer view of these features. The MAHLI image above shows the Skara Brae rock target. On Sol 1962, our second day of exploration, we planned to drive