Nice animation :) Definitely an improvement on the earlier attempt, we see still see some some fracturing, but a lot less movement (side-to-side) movement of the drill (maybe more down-force on the support pillars?). We’ll have to wait for the post abrading images after they move the turret away from the site so see what they have achieved. Whatever the results of this abrasion the fact that it readily breaks up, attempts to retain a core will likely be difficult.
Fingers crossed :)
Nice cheat observation :)
I’m assuming that this was where the patch was meant to be.
Any bets regarding another try close by?
I’m sure they have a ton of drill data, hopefully they’ll share something soon :)
As for your missing patch names looks like you have to wait until Early August for the next update
Looks to my old eyes like the surface layer broke up and was scattered around. As you say there appears to be some movement of the turret / robotic arm, so I believe you’re spot on in predicting that the abrading process was likely ended early. We’ll have to await for those post abrasion images. Let’s hope it’s not like the previous patch where we had to wait days for the drill to be moved.
BTW, Do you have a list of patches that you don’t yet have a name for (before sol 1380)?
That’s extremely useful. Pity they don’t release the names of all the patches in the updates. I know we’ll eventually see the names in the mission managers reports, but those are many months away.
Someone’s making a penny
Looking at the current stats for this post, someone has made 24 cents :)
that’s cool! I guessed either for camera scale purposes or luck and got pretty close!
You were spot on.
For those that don’t want to follow the link…
The Lincoln penny in this photograph is part of a camera calibration target
The calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument also includes color references, a metric bar graphic, and a stair-step pattern for depth calibration. The MAHLI adjustable-focus, color camera at the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm can be used for taking extreme close-ups of rocks and soil on Mars, rover selfies, as well as images from greater distances.
The penny is also a nod to geologists’ tradition of placing a coin or other object of known scale as a size reference in close-up photographs of rocks, and it gives the public a familiar object for perceiving size easily when it will be viewed by MAHLI on Mars.
The specific coin, provided by MAHLI’s principal investigator, Ken Edgett, is a 1909 “VDB” penny. That was the first year Lincoln pennies were minted and the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
Why a 1909 penny? Curiosity was going to launch in 2009, the centennial of the Lincoln Cent and bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth. When the launch was delayed, Ken made the decision to stick with the historic 1909 cent rather than try to find a 1911 cent as the coin was bonded into the calibration target and had already been delivered to NASA.
And it was lucky, despite many issues along the way, Curiosity has been exploring Gale crater since August 2012. In that time it’s amassed enough science data to keep scientists busy for years.
Huge difference. It’s a pity we have to suffer the current limits for data transfer between Earth and Mars. Some of the orbiting assets are aging rapidly, so data limits are not going to improve any time soon, else we could hope for many more images at different times of the day.
Bring twice as much water as you think you’re gonna need.
And an extra jacket, as it get a bit nippy after sunset ;)
Back in the day, someone used to do something like that with MSL images, but not seen any in ages, maybe someone here can take up the challenge :)
Good map, I like the sol numbers!
Mine are simple screenshots from the official traverse map with annotated sol numbers (when I have time)
If you want to see the most detailed MSL traverse maps follow Jan Vacek (JV Honza) on Mastodon, or just follow this link for his most recent recent post.
https://fosstodon.org/@JV_Honza@mastodon.arch-linux.cz/114705942820488832
I’m assuming the delay is due to engineering checks on the drill and it’s electrical circuits. One of those broken plates appears to have been wedged between between a drill support, and the coring bit. If it was wedged tightly, the sudden additional load on the drill motor may have tripped the rotation of the drill, or if it tripped because the sensors in the robotic arm detected the movement that we can see in the image set.
Whatever it was, I’m assuming that they will need to check out the hardware and electric systems. JPL can communicate in direct mode to the rover rather than through the orbiters for engineering activities. We we would normally be able to see that direct communication on the DSN, but each time I have checked it today there has been zero communications activity from any of the mission missions. that’s either a fault or it’s another cutback.
DSN: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/dsn-now/dsn.html
BTW I’ll volunteer to go and check out those fractured rocks. I just need a ride ;)
you can’t break bedrock!
Unless you phase through the bedrock ;)
Smells like rotten Eggs. You can lick the rock, but blow all the dust off first, as that contains lots of Perchlorate, enough to make it a bad day
Great comparison using the before and after shots. Fully agreed regarding the diverse mineralogy found in this mission. When I first saw these close-ups of the rock fractured by the drill, I thought maybe we were seeing thick mineral fill fractures, we’ve seen thin fracture fills on this mission, but if these are very large veins, that would be a first for Jezero (AFAIK). Whatever they are I agree that this stuff needs the ‘full treatment’ with all available instruments :)
Apologies not required :)
Not looking good. Sol 1548 NavCam tile (processed (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Third time’s a charm? Or time to move on? I’d say go for it again