Third Time's the Charm: Sols 4123-4124

Third Time’s the Charm: Sols 4123-4124

by Remington Free | Operations Systems Engineer – JPL

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 13, 2024

Earth planning date: Monday, March 11, 2024: Robotic arm downlink chair here! Rather than planning for the next day, I am on the team which assesses data that comes back from the rover and determines the health and safety of its hardware. I was responsible for assessing our last preload checkout on our second “Mineral King” target last Friday. Unfortunately, we were not confident enough in the initial data we were reading in the target to feel comfortable moving towards a full drill. In our feed extended configuration without utilizing stabilizers, we have to be pickier about the drilling attempts we make to protect our hardware. We wouldn’t want to get our drill stuck in a rock!

Today, we are planning for another checkout on our third “Mineral King” target on Sol 4123. We’re really excited about the potential science value from this area, so we are willing to try again to get more sample. Recall that for our first “Mineral King” target, while we were able to successfully drill, we did not get our normal amount of powder sample to do all of the science analysis we wanted to, hence the additional drilling.

We’ll be able to assess on Wednesday whether our third checkout passes our engineering criteria to proceed with a full drill. In addition to the preload checkout, we have a Sol 4123 environmental science block with Navcam measurements to determine scatterings of atmospheric aerosols, take a cloud movie, and search for dust devils. We will also take Mastcam measurements to measure optical depth.

On Sol 4124, we will not have any arm activities while we wait for our engineers to assess the target checkout, and will focus on more science measurements. In our first science block, we have planned ChemCam measurements to document bedrock geochemistry, take spectroscopic measurements of our drill tailings from the first Mineral King drill target, and take long distance imaging of “Fascination Turret,” a nearby ridge of interest.

We also have planned Mastcam and Navcam activities to measure optical depth, document ChemCam targets, and collect stereo documentation of a nearby outcrop rock. Later on the same sol, we will take additional Mastcam imaging of our “Florence Peak” target which we have been observing for a number of sols. We are interested in how our measurements are changing over time. We will also be taking additional Navcam measurements as we continue monitoring atmospheric aerosols and atmospheric opacity in the current dusty environment.

We’re excited to get our engineering data back from our third “Mineral King” target to see if we can do another drill!

Mars Throws Us a Curveball: Sols 4120-4122

by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist

Earth planning date: Friday, March 8, 2024: As we previously documented, the first “Mineral King” drill hole did not quite reach the target depth that we typically desire to ensure that we have enough sample in the drill stem to deliver to our internal CheMin and SAM instruments. While we did get a successful X-ray diffraction CheMin analysis, we did not quite have enough sample left for SAM to be able to complete their Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA).

The rover engineers selected a new potential drill spot on the same block, and this morning we got the results of the APXS, MAHLI and preload test (to check for stability and drillability) on that spot. While the chemistry and imaging indicated that it was a good candidate the preload test did not pass. The selected target was just a little too close to the rover.

As the APXS strategic planner today, I reported the results of the APXS chemical analysis to the team; we were looking for the “Mineral King2” area to have a similar composition to the first drill target. We found out about the failure of the preload test as we were ready to deliver our preliminary plan, but we are all used to reacting to the surprises that Mars occasionally sends our way! The science, engineering and uplink teams did an excellent job responding to the sudden change of plans and we managed to come up with a homerun, version 2 of our plan to accommodate the late-breaking news, taking advantage of the extra power and time available to us, given that we were not proceeding with drilling!

The geologists planned ChemCam LIBS on two targets, “Vernal Falls” and “Unicorn Peak,” which will also be documented with Mastcam. The two targets are on a nearby polygonally fractured block, the same block as the previous “Roaring River” target. ChemCam will also utilize its remote imaging capabilities to continue looking at the layering in the “Texoli” butte and the chaotic structure within the nearby Gediz Vallis deposit (see my previous blog for rationale).

We are taking advantage of the unexpected bonus time and power to cross a few Mastcam liens off our list. Mastcam will extend imaging in and around the “Cottonwood Pass” and “Mount Carillon” areas to provide more context to the Mineral King drill site and surrounding area. We are also acquiring a MARDI image to monitor how the wind might be moving sand and dust around as we remain parked at this location.

All that extra power and time meant that the environmental scientists were able to plan a glutton of observations, especially useful right now as Curiosity is in a dust storm watch scenario, as dust activity increases on Mars. Environmental Navcam observations include line of sight observations, two dust movies, two 360 sky surveys, as well as zenith and suprahorizon movies. We are also acquiring Mastcam tau and sky column observations, as well as planning coordinated ChemCam passive sky and APXS atmospheric activities. The plan is not complete without the standard REMS, DAN and RAD activities.

The rover engineers have found another viable spot on the same block as “Mineral King,” a bit further from the rover, so we will probably try our triage drill activities on the new target when we resume planning next week. We are all hoping for a more successful outcome than for Mineral King2.