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In celebration of ChemCam’s milestone, here is a stunning image from its remote micro imager, showing details in the landscape far away. This image was taken by Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4302 — Martian day 4,302 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — on Sept. 12, 2024, at 09:20:51 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech
Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
Today, we need to highlight ChemCam, our laser and imaging instrument on the top of Curiosity’s mast. It is one of the instruments in the “head” that gives Curiosity its distinctive, almost inquisitive appearance as if it were peering down at the rocks near its wheels. On Monday, August 19th, the ChemCam team at CNES in France planned the 1 millionth shot, and Curiosity executed it on the target Royce Lake on Sol 4281 on Mars. Even as an Earth scientist accustomed to large numbers, this is a staggering figure that took some time to fully grasp. One million shots! Congratulations, ChemCam, our champion for obtaining chemistry from a distance – and high-resolution images, too. If you are curious about how Curiosity’s ChemCam instrument works, here is the NASA fact sheet. And, of course, the team is celebrating, which is expressed by these two press releases, one from CNES in France and one from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the two institutions that collaborated to develop and build ChemCam and have been managing the instrument for over 12 years! Dr. Nina Lanza from Los Alamos informs us that the first milestone – 10,000 shots – was reached as early as Sol 42, which was the Sol when the DAN instrument used its active mode for the first time. But before I get too nostalgic, let’s talk about today’s plan!
The drive ended fairly high up in the terrain, meaning we can see a lot of the interesting features in the channel and the surrounding area. We are at a spot where a human hiker would probably put down their backpack, take out a water bottle, and sit down with a snack to enjoy the view from a nice high point in the landscape. Well, no such pleasures for Curiosity – and I’m pretty sure sugar, which we humans love so much, wouldn’t be appreciated by the rover’s gears anyway. So, let’s just take in the views! And that keeps Mastcam busy, taking full advantage of our current vantage point. We have terrain with lots of variety in front of us: blocks, boulders, flatter areas, and layered walls showcasing beautiful geology. Overall, there are 11 Mastcam observations in the plan, adding up to about 100 individual frames, not counting those taken in the context of atmospheric observations, which are also in the plan. The biggest mosaics are on the targets “Western Deposit,” “Balloon Dome,” and “Coral Meadow.” Some smaller documentation images are on the targets “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.”
ChemCam didn’t have long to dwell on its milestone, as it’s busy again today. Of course, it will join Mastcam in taking advantage of our vantage point, taking three remote micro imager images of the landscape around us. LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) chemistry investigations are targeting “Wales Lake,” “Gnat Meadow,” and “Pig Chute.” APXS (Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer) is investigating two targets, “College Rock” and “Wales Lake,” which will also come with MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager) documentation. With all these investigations together, we’ll be able to document the chemistry of many targets around us. There is such a rich variety of dark and light-toned rocks, and with so much variety everywhere, it’s hard to choose, and the team is excited about the three targeted sols … and planning over four hours of science over the weekend!
The next drive is planned to go to an area where there is a step in the landscape. Geologists love these steps as they provide insights into the layers below the immediate surface. If you have read the word ‘outcrop’ here, that’s what it means: access to below the surface. But there are also other interesting features in the area, so we will certainly have an interesting workspace to look at! However, getting there will not be easy as the terrain is very complex, so we cannot do it in just one drive. I think there is a rule of thumb here: the more excited the geo-team gets, the more skills our drivers need. Geologists just love rocks, but of course, no one likes driving off-road in really rocky terrain – and there are no roads on Mars. Right now, our excellent engineers have an extra complication to think about: they need to take extra care where and how to park so Curiosity can actually communicate with Earth. Why? Well, we are in a canyon, and those of you who like to hike know what canyons mean for cell phone signals… yes, there isn’t much coverage, and that’s the same for Curiosity’s antenna. This new NASA video has more information and insights into the planning room, too! So, we’ll drive halfway to where we want to be, but I am sure there will be interesting targets in the new workspace, the area is just so, so complex, fascinating, and rich!
And that’s Mars for you, after 12 years, 42 drill holes, and now 1 million ChemCam shots. Go Curiosity go!!!
Written by Susanne Schwenzer, Planetary Geologist at The Open University
