Sols 3825-3826: Yet Another Stunning Crater Discovered on Mars

On sol 3825, the Curiosity rover successfully drilled a new hole on the Ubajara target on Mars. The team was excited to see the drill contacting the rock just before beginning the drilling activity. The first sol of the plan began with imaging, including a stereo mosaic of the target “Kukenan” to document the bedding of the local bedrock. ChemCam and Mastcam post-drill observations of the drill target, Ubajara, were taken to see the drill hole and drill tailings. Additionally, there was a Navcam large dust devil survey and a Mastcam image of the CheMin inlet before dropping off a sample. The sample drop-off was done at night to minimize the time between dropping off and analysis. After a nap, Curiosity woke up to drop off the sample to CheMin for an overnight analysis. Science is anxious to see how this sample differs from Tapo Caparo, which was about 25m lower in elevation than the Ubajara location. On the second sol of the plan, power was conserved for an expected upcoming SAM observation on the sample. Imaging included Mastcam imaging for change detection on the target Azufral, a stereo mosaic to extend workspace coverage, and an image of the CheMin inlet after the drop-off. ChemCam took a LIBS observation and Mastcam a single supporting image of the target “Jaru,” a nodular bedrock target nearby. Lastly, ChemCam took an RMI long-distance image of the inverted channel near the area the rover may approach in the future.