MSL Post First Drive - Intermission, Start of Drive to Glenelg, Intermission between CAP 1B and 2 - Sols 17 through 29 |
MSL Post First Drive - Intermission, Start of Drive to Glenelg, Intermission between CAP 1B and 2 - Sols 17 through 29 |
Aug 23 2012, 02:39 PM
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Administrator Group: Admin Posts: 5172 Joined: 4-August 05 From: Pasadena, CA, USA, Earth Member No.: 454 |
Curiosity's Cap 1B phase was completed yesterday with the successful first drive, so now we're going into "Intermission." Dan Limonadi's guest post on the Society blog has great explanations of what all these phases mean.
QUOTE There is an “intermission” that the science team will have between CAP 1B and CAP 2. The intermission will include initial drives away from the landing site, more in-depth ChemCam and Mastcam characterization and science observations, and the first SAM atmospheric science experiment. The total length of this period depends on how long the science team wants to drive before carrying on with sample chain checkout activities. The key flavor difference of intermission is that science is more in the driver’s seat and not trying to squeeze in between higher priority engineering checkout activities that have priority during CAP 1 and 2. Our current plan is to complete a significant fraction of our drive to Glenelg during intermission Keep discussion of sol 9-16 imaging in the relevant thread -- not all of those full-frame Mastcam images are down yet.
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Aug 27 2012, 06:25 PM
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Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 52 Joined: 1-March 11 From: Houston, USA Member No.: 5860 |
Good thing we don't have to hand-color the pixels as was done with Mariner 4.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/dis...amp;IM_ID=13006 Regarding the rounded granules at Bradbury Landing, they look tumbled. The larger cobbles have the usual ventifact facets from long exposure; they're too big to turn over. But the smaller stuff looks really rounded. The Meridiani blueberries started out spherical and harder than the sulfates and hydrated silicates that entombed them; it will be interesting to learn if the round granules and pebbles here have a favored composition. Presumably Earth's favorite weathering-resistant mineral, quartz, is not available here, but kilometers of sediment have been removed from this location -- a very thick column to select lag materials from. Rounding and sorting might have accompanied their original deposition more than the current environment. |
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