Earth planning date: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025
Last night, Mars hit a solar longitude of 40 degrees. This is a key marker in a Mars year, starting at 0 degrees and cycling to 360 degrees. For the Environmental Science (ENV) team, 40 degrees is exciting. It signals the start of our Aphelion Cloud Belt (ACB) observation campaign. At this time, the northern polar ice cap begins to thaw, releasing water vapor into the atmosphere. The colder temperatures near aphelion make Mars perfect for cloud formation, so we’re eager to capture this activity.
Our rover, Curiosity, is located near the southern edge of the ACB. We’ve begun taking cloud images to track changes during this cloudy period. Jezero Crater, where Perseverance is exploring, is closely positioned to the heart of the ACB. Check out their Raw Images page for updates as the season progresses.
In the previous plan, our drive ended prematurely. Curiosity only moved about 4 meters instead of the expected 38 meters. Initially, we thought a rock halted the left-front wheel. But our data showed a problem with the right-front wheel too. This is a known issue, so we should resume our journey west today.
The chilly weather has impacted our power levels, forcing us to prioritize our tasks. Thankfully, we got the green light to unstow the arm, allowing us to carry out a full range of activities. We started with remote sensing tasks, including ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam observations of “Beacon Hill,” which features layered bedrock nearby. We also took a ChemCam RMI mosaic of the upper part of Texoli Butte.
After a 3½-hour nap to recharge, we moved to the arm activities. We began by capturing MAHLI images of our calibration targets, followed by observations of “Zuma Canyon.” Next were DRT, APXS, and MAHLI activities on bedrock in our workspace, known as “Bear Canyon.” After taking another short break, we completed long APXS integrations after sunset, and finally stowed the arm just before midnight.
The second sol of our plan started with more remote sensing. We conducted ChemCam LIBS on “Mission Point” and took Mastcam images of “Crystal Lake,” “Stockton Flat,” “Mount Waterman,” and Mission Point. We finished with ENV tasks, measuring dust with Mastcam and Navcam, along with a Navcam cloud movie. This exciting plan wraps up with a long drive west and significant downtime to recharge our systems before planning begins again on Friday. Meanwhile, the REMS, RAD, and DAN instruments keep monitoring Mars’ environment throughout our activities.
Written by Conor Hayes, Graduate Student at York University
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