Roving into the Sulfate Hills, Sol 3200-3387, 6 Aug 2021-16 Feb 2022 Options

[Phil Stooke]

I am starting a new thread for the climb into the hills and valleys of the sulfate unit. I had naively anticipated knowing when a sharp compositional boundary would be crossed, but more likely it will be gradual and the crossing point arbitrary. So the odometer clicking up to 3200 seems like a reasonable place to start a new section. There will be no shortage of amazing views to greet us as we rove on, singing 'sulfates on the soles of our shoes' perhaps.

Start posting here on sol 3200!

Phil

[vikingmars]

I am starting a new thread for the climb into the hills and valleys of the sulfate unit. I had naively anticipated knowing when a sharp compositional boundary would be crossed, but more likely it will be gradual and the crossing point arbitrary. So the odometer clicking up to 3200 seems like a reasonable place to start a new section. There will be no shortage of amazing views to greet us as we rove on, singing 'sulfates on the soles of our shoes' perhaps.
Start posting here on sol 3200!
Phil

What a nice idea! Thanks a lot Phil

[Saturns Moon Tit...]

The rugged terrain Curiosity has reached is arguably the most spectacular landscape ever visited by a Mars rover and I cannot wait for the pictures we are going to get. It'll be a fitting place for Curiosity to spend her final years <3. Can anyone point me to a rough traverse path of where the rover will be headed over the next year or two? I hope we get to return to the pediment soon, the view from up there of the rover's 8-year journey will be amazing I'm sure.

[PaulH51]

Version 10 of the 'Mount Sharp Ascent Route' (MSAR) is the latest version that I am aware of.

It was documented in an abstract from the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. The abstract has several figures that show the path and describe some of the candidate science waypoints along the path.

Spoiler alert: They do plan to revisit the Pediment LINK

...Can anyone point me to a rough traverse path of where the rover will be headed over the next year or two? I hope we get to return to the pediment soon...

[jvandriel]

The Navcam R view on Sol 3197.

Jan van Driel

[Bill Harris]

I am starting a new thread for the climb into the hills and valleys of the sulfate unit. I had naively anticipated knowing when a sharp compositional boundary would be crossed, but...

Phil

Likely with all the float moving downslope we won't see a sharp boundary. We can keep looking for undisturbed outcrops not at the head of talus slopes and close enough to zap with the Chemcam.
Astounding journey...

--Bill

[PaulH51]

May as well kick off this thread properly with this majestic view from one of the NavCam during sol 3200

[Phil Stooke]

Incredible! The atmosphere has really cleared up. A few months ago you could hardly see the hills.

Phil

[jvandriel]

The Navcam R view on Sol 3202.

Jan van Driel

[Phil Stooke]

Jan's panorama in circular form:

Phil

[jvandriel]

The Mastcam L view on Sol 3201.

Jan van Driel

[charborob]

Sol 3202 Rmastcam:

[alan]

Interesting color contrast between the cap and the lower layers.

[jvandriel]

The Navcam R view on Sol 3203.

Jan van Driel

[Saturns Moon Tit...]

And we have almost arrived at the pediment already! The resistant capstone at the top of the cliff in front of us is indeed the Greenheugh pediment I have overlaid the MSAR_10 route (the most recent strategic route) to show roughly where the team probably intends to ascend up onto the pediment. From the looks of the planned traverse, the rover will follow this cliff uphill, squeezing through a narrow passage and then ascending a ramp. However, before all that I expect they'll want to drill nearby to where we are now, to document the chemistry of the rocks directly underneath the pediment. Once we're ontop, the view will be very special. Looks like they plan on sending the rover towards that big ridge that runs down the middle of it - my understanding is that there's debate over whether the Greenheugh pediment represents just aeolian sandstones, basically a lateral continuation of the stimson formation (remember the buttes all those years ago?), alternatively it might be an alluvial fan. It certainly resembles a fan in shape and that big ridge running down the middle could be an inverted channel. This is why the mission geologists want to send the rover there, to check which theory's true!