Join the Alien Search, login or register FREE on Aliens and Space Forum

Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site

Sols 4389-4390: A Wealth of Ripples, Nodules and Veins

By NASA
December 11, 2024 in NASA

https://www.aliensandspace.com/topic/15788-sols-4389-4390-a-wealth-of-ripples-nodules-and-veins/

Sols 4389-4390: A Wealth of Ripples, Nodules and Veins

A grayscale image shows a patch of rough, slightly wavy terrain with several flat, jagged areas emerging from the surface and all pointing toward the lower left corner of the frame. The area looks like a patch of peanut butter or frosting, with wavy lines and peaks left by a spreader.

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity captured this image showing the patches and aggregations of darker-toned material in its workspace on Dec. 8, 2024. Curiosity acquired this image using its Mast Camera (Mastcam) on sol 4387 — Martian day 4,387 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 17:44:17 UTC.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Earth planning date: Monday, Dec. 9, 2024

We are continuing to edge our way around the large “Texoli” butte. Much of the bedrock we have been traversing recently looks pretty similar — paler-colored laminated bedrock — but today’s workspace had some interesting features, as did the “drive direction” image, which focuses on the future drive path.

Close to the rover, we had a wealth of fractures and darker-toned patches. The fractures or veins were too far from the rover for contact science, but ChemCam LIBS was able to target one of the more prominent ones at “Garlock Fault.” Luckily for the contact science instruments (APXS and MAHLI), the darker patches were within reach of the arm. Some of the darker patches were flatter and platy in appearance, whilst others had a more amorphous, blobby shape. Both types come with their own challenges. The flatter ones collect dust on their flat surfaces, so ideally they would be brushed with the DRT (Dust Removal Tool) before we analyze them, but they are often too fragile-looking, and we worry that some of the layers might break off or flake off. The amorphous ones have irregular surfaces, which can collect sand and dust and make getting a good placement tricky.

However, today we were able to get both APXS and MAHLI on the flattest, most dust-free looking patch at “Cerro Negro.” We will be able to compare the composition of the darker patches and the Garlock Fault vein, and hopefully tease out their relationship.

Mastcam will take a small mosaic of Garlock Fault and then a larger mosaic on crosscutting veins at “Wildwood Canyon.” This was previously imaged, but from a different angle, so getting a second image will allow us to calculate the orientations on the fractures. Further afield, the “Forest Falls” mosaic looks at an area of dark, raised vein material.

Looking at the drive direction image, the sedimentologists were very excited to see what appear to be ripple features in the rocks ahead of us, which can tell us a lot about the depositional environment. The Mastcam mosaic “Hahamongna” will image the outcrop we are driving towards (about 30 meters from today’s workspace, or 98 feet), to give context for what we see when we get there. Mastcam will take a second smaller mosaic at “Malibu Creek” midway between where we are today and where we hope to be on Wednesday.

Looking even further into our future driving path, we will obtain Mastcam and ChemCam RMI images of the top of Mount Sharp and the yardang unit. We have a bit to go before we get there of course, but we will use those images to examine structural relationships and consider the evolution of both — we can test all those theories when we get there!

We round out the plan with environmental monitoring, as always …and wait eagerly for the next workspace on Wednesday, when we will get up close to those ripples, with luck!

Written by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick

Details

Last Updated

Dec 11, 2024

Related Terms

Blogs

Keep Exploring

Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…

All Mars Resources

Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…

25757_1-PIA24543-Curiositys-Selfie-at-Mo

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

mars-perseverance-si1-0045-0670932474-01

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Color-enhanced_view_of_Jezero_crater_on_

View the full article

Quote

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Reply to this topic...

× Pasted as rich text. Paste as plain text instead

Only 75 emoji are allowed.

× Your link has been automatically embedded. Display as a link instead

× Your previous content has been restored. Clear editor

× You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Insert image from URL

https://www.aliensandspace.com/topic/15788-sols-4389-4390-a-wealth-of-ripples-nodules-and-veins/

Followers 0

Go to topic listing

Similar Topics
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4655-4660: Boxworks With a View
  By NASA
  
  Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
  Curiosity Blog, Sols 4655-4660: Boxworks With a View
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, showing the boxwork terrain in the foreground and the bright wind-sculpted material in the distance, on Sept. 12, 2025. Curiosity used its Right Navigation Camera on Sol 4657, or Martian day 4,657 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, at 00:50:58 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Sharon Wilson Purdy, Planetary Geologist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
  Earth planning date: Friday Sept. 12, 2025
  Curiosity continues to image, analyze, and traverse through a landscape characterized by higher standing ridges separating low-lying depressions (hollows) — a surface known as the boxwork terrain on Mount Sharp. The science team is actively characterizing the texture, chemistry, and mineralogy of the ridges and hollows to understand how this surface formed and changed over time. I served as the Geology theme group “Keeper of the Plan” for Sols 4656-4657 where I compiled the details for each scientific activity that will be carried out by the rover. I selected the particular Navcam image accompanying this blog post because it not only shows the intriguing boxwork terrain beneath our wheels but also highlights the striking wind-sculpted yardangs on our exciting route ahead.
  Our successful drive over the weekend set us up nicely to investigate the bedrock ridge in the workspace directly in front of the rover on Sol 4655. The target “Chango” was selected for closer inspection with the dust removal tool (DRT) and APXS and MAHLI instruments. ChemCam used its LIBS instrument to analyze the chemistry of a bedrock ridge at the “Quechua” target, and Mastcam and ChemCam included several mosaics to document walls of nearby hollow interiors, fractures, and the hollow-to-ridge transitions.
  The plan for Sols 4656-4657 focused on a variety of remote sensing activities including a 360-degree mosaic by Mastcam — one of the most spectacular data products! ChemCam investigated the local bedrock and a raised resistant bedrock feature at “Chita” and “Chaco,” respectively, and then turned its sights to the distant floor of Gale crater to image features that may have formed when water eroded material from the interior walls of the crater rim.
  Planning on Friday for Sols 4658-4660 included three targeted science blocks to dig deeper into the boxwork unit. ChemCam LIBS will analyze the bedrock at targets “Tarata” and “El Sombrio” and a rock that does not look like typical bedrock at “Cobres.” The Mastcam team assembled multiple images and mosaics that will help decipher the distribution of veins, fractures, and nodules (somewhat rounded features) in the bedrock, as well as small sand dunes in and around the workspace. The environmental theme group worked throughout the week to monitor clouds and dust-devil activity, and planned Mastcam tau observations to assess the optical depth of the atmosphere and constrain aerosol scattering properties.
  
  Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
  
  Visit Mission Updates
  
  Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
  
  Visit the Science Instruments page
  
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
  
  Details
  Last Updated Sep 15, 2025 Related Terms
  Blogs Explore More
  2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4649-4654: Ridges, Hollows and Nodules, Oh My
  
  Article
  
  3 days ago
  2 min read Perseverance Meets the Megabreccia
  
  Article
  
  7 days ago
  4 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4641-4648: Thinking Outside and Inside the ‘Boxwork’
  
  Article
  
  2 weeks ago
  Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
  Mars
  
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
  
  All Mars Resources
  
  Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
  
  Rover Basics
  
  Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
  
  Mars Exploration: Science Goals
  
  The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
  
  View the full article
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4649-4654: Ridges, Hollows and Nodules, Oh My
  By NASA
  
  Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
  Curiosity Blog, Sols 4649-4654: Ridges, Hollows and Nodules, Oh My
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera, showing the transition from smoother ridge bedrock (right) to more nodular bedrock (bottom left to top middle) on the edge of a shallow hollow (top left). Curiosity, whose masthead shadow is also visible, captured this image on Sept. 5, 2025 — Sol 4650, or Martian day 4,650 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 00:22:34 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Scientist and APXS Team Member, University of New Brunswick, Canada
  Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 5, 2025
  Curiosity is in the midst of the boxwork campaign, trying to decipher why we see such pronounced ridges and hollows in this area of Mount Sharp. When this terrain was first identified from orbit it was hypothesized that the ridges may be the result of cementation by circulating fluids, followed by differential erosion of the less resistant bedrock in between (the hollows that we now observe).
  We have been exploring the boxwork terrain documenting textures, structures and composition to investigate potential differences between ridges and hollows. One of the textural features we have observed are nodules in varying abundance. The focus of our activities this week was to document the transition from smoother bedrock atop a boxwork ridge to more nodular bedrock associated with the edge of a shallow hollow.
  In Tuesday’s three-sol plan we analyzed the smoother bedrock within the ridge, documenting textures with MAHLI, Mastcam, and ChemCam RMI, and chemistry with ChemCam LIBS and APXS. Curiosity then successfully bumped towards the edge of the ridge/hollow to place the more nodular bedrock in our workspace. Friday’s three-sol plan was basically a repeat of the previous observations, but this time focused on the more nodular bedrock. The planned drive should take us to another boxwork ridge, and closer to the area where we plan to drill into one of the ridges.
  As the APXS strategic planner this week, I helped to select the rock targets for analysis by our instrument, ensuring they were safe to touch and that they met the science intent of the boxwork campaign. I also communicated to the rest of the team the most recent results from our APXS compositional analyses and how they fit into our investigation of the boxwork terrain. This will help to inform our fast-approaching decision about where to drill.
  Both plans included Mastcam and ChemCam long-distance RMI imaging of more distant features, including other boxwork ridges and hollows, buttes, the yardang unit, and Gale crater rim. Planned environmental activities continue to monitor dust in the atmosphere, dust-devil activity, and clouds. Standard REMS, RAD, and DAN activities round out the week’s activities.
  
  Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
  
  Visit Mission Updates
  
  Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
  
  Visit the Science Instruments page
  
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
  
  Details
  Last Updated Sep 12, 2025 Related Terms
  Blogs Explore More
  2 min read Perseverance Meets the Megabreccia
  
  Article
  
  4 days ago
  4 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4641-4648: Thinking Outside and Inside the ‘Boxwork’
  
  Article
  
  1 week ago
  2 min read Over Soroya Ridge & Onward!
  
  Article
  
  2 weeks ago
  Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
  Mars
  
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
  
  All Mars Resources
  
  Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
  
  Rover Basics
  
  Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
  
  Mars Exploration: Science Goals
  
  The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
  
  View the full article
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4641-4648: Thinking Outside and Inside the ‘Boxwork’
  By NASA
  
  Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 4 min read
  Curiosity Blog, Sols 4641-4648: Thinking Outside and Inside the ‘Boxwork’
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on Aug. 28, 2025 — Sol 4643, or Martian day 4,643 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 20:45:52 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Ashley Stroupe, Mission Operations Engineer and Rover Planner at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  Earth planning week: Aug. 25, 2025.
  This week Curiosity has been exploring the boxwork unit, investigating both the ridges and the hollows to better characterize them and understand how they may have formed. We’ve been doing lots of remote science, contact science, and driving in each plan. In addition, we have our standard daily environmental observations to look at dust in the atmosphere. We can still see distant targets like the crater rim, but temperatures will soon begin to warm up as we start moving into a dustier part of the year. And after each drive, we also use AEGIS to do some autonomous target selection for ChemCam observations. I was the arm rover planner for the 4645-4648 plan on Friday.
  For Monday’s plan (sols 4641-4642), after a successful weekend drive Curiosity began on the edge of a boxwork ridge. We did a lot of imaging, including Mastcam mosaics of “El Alto,” an upturned rock near a wheel, the ridge forming the south side of the Mojo hollow, “Sauces,” our contact science target, and “Navidad,” an extension of our current workspace. We also took ChemCam LIBS of Sauces and an RMI mosaic. The rover planners did not find any bedrock large enough to brush, but did MAHLI and APXS on Sauces. Ready to drive, Curiosity drove about 15 meters (about 49 feet) around the ridge to the south and into the next hollow, named “Mojo.”
  In Wednesday’s plan (sols 4643-4644), Curiosity was successfully parked in the Mojo hollow. We started with a lot of imaging, including Mastcam mosaics of the ridges around the Mojo hollow, a nearby trough and the hollow floor to look for regolith movement. We also imaged a fractured float rock named “La Laguna Verde.” ChemCam planned a LIBS target on “Corani,” a thin resistant clast sticking out of the regolith, a RMI mosaic of a target on the north ridge named “Cocotoni,” and a long-distance RMI mosaic of “Babati Mons,” a mound about 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) away that we can see peeking over the rim of Gale crater! With no bedrock in the workspace, the rover planners did MAHLI and APXS observations on a regolith target named “Tarapacá.” The 12-meter drive in this plan (about 39 feet) was challenging; driving out of the hollow and up onto the ridge required the rover to overcome tilts above 20 degrees, where the rover can experience a lot of slip. Also, with the drive late in the day, it was challenging to determine where Curiosity should be looking to track her slip using Visual Odometry without getting blinded by the sun or losing features in shadows. Making sure VO works well is particularly important on drives like this when we expect a lot of slip.
  Friday’s plan, like most weekend plans, was more complex — particularly because this four-sol plan also covers the Labor Day holiday on Monday. Fortunately, the Wednesday drive was successful, and we reached the desired parking location on the ridge south of Mojo for imaging and contact science. The included image looks back over the rover’s shoulder, where we can see the ridge and hollow. We took a lot of imaging looking at hollows and the associated ridges. We are taking a Mastcam mosaic of “Jorginho Cove,” a target covering the ridge we are parked on and the next hollow to the south, “Pica,” a float rock that is grayish in color, and a ridge/hollow pair named “Laguna Colorada.” We also take ChemCam LIBS observations of Pica and two light-toned pieces of bedrock named “Tin Tin” and ”Olca.” ChemCam takes RMI observations of “Briones,” which is a channel on the crater rim, “La Serena,” some linear features in the crater wall, and a channel that feeds into the Peace Vallis fan.
  After a week of fairly simple arm targets, the rover planners had a real challenge with this workspace. The rocks were mostly too small and too rough to brush, but we did find one spot after a lot of looking. We did DRT, APXS, and MAHLI on this spot, named “San Jose,” and also did MAHLI and APXS on another rock named “Malla Qullu.” This last drive of the week is about 15 meters (about 49 feet) following along a ridge and then driving onto a nearby one.
  
  Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
  
  Visit Mission Updates
  
  Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
  
  Visit the Science Instruments page
  
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
  
  Details
  Last Updated Sep 04, 2025 Related Terms
  Blogs Explore More
  2 min read Over Soroya Ridge & Onward!
  
  Article
  
  1 week ago
  3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4638-4640: Imaging Extravaganza Atop a Ridge
  
  Article
  
  1 week ago
  3 min read To See the World in a Grain of Sand: Investigating Megaripples at ‘Kerrlaguna’
  
  Article
  
  2 weeks ago
  Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
  Mars
  
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
  
  All Mars Resources
  
  Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
  
  Rover Basics
  
  Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
  
  Mars Exploration: Science Goals
  
  The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
  
  View the full article
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4638-4640: Imaging Extravaganza Atop a Ridge
  By NASA
  
  Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
  Curiosity Blog, Sols 4638-4640: Imaging Extravaganza Atop a Ridge
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image on Aug. 21, 2025, looking across the ridge that the rover is currently parked near the edge of, looking down into the “Thumb” region that mission planners hope to be exploring next week. Curiosity captured this image using its Left Navigation Camera on Sol 4636, or Martian day 4,636 of the MArs Science Laboratory mission, at 16:09:13 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Conor Hayes, Graduate Student at York University
  Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 22, 2025
  Curiosity is continuing its winding path through the mysterious boxwork structures that have been a major focus of the last several months of the mission. After driving away from “Río Frío,” we are now parked on top of a ridge overlooking a topographic depression that we’ve nicknamed the “Thumb.” The image on this post shows that ridge running along the “thumb’s” edge. Our goal today is to characterize this ridge before we drive down into the Thumb.
  Because we had a lot of power and three sols available to play around with, this weekend plan is packed with a lot of good science. The boxwork structures in our immediate vicinity get a lot of attention, with Mastcam images planned of the targets “Wallatiri,” “Wallatiri 2,” “Mojo,” “Samaipata,” “Fort Samaipata,” and “Río Lluta,” as well as a nearby trough. ChemCam will be taking LIBS measurements of both Samaipata and Fort Saaipata as well. Samaipata gets even more attention from MAHLI, in addition to the targets “Vitichi” and “Tartagalita,” both of which will also be observed by APXS.
  The boxwork structures don’t get all of the fun today, though. In addition to all of the boxwork observations, Mastcam will be documenting the ChemCam AEGIS target from Monday’s plan, and will also be doing some more imaging of the “Mishe Mokwa” butte. The highlight of Mastcam’s work in this plan (at least in my opinion) is the large 44-image mosaic of the north crater rim, taking advantage of the particularly low dust content of the atmosphere at this time of year. ChemCam will be taking several RMI images of Mishe Mokwa and a distant outcrop at “Dragones” that we will be driving towards over the next several months, as well as the usual post-drive AEGIS.
  Rounding out this plan is a collection of observations of the atmosphere. In addition to typical DAN, REMS, and RAD activities, Curiosity’s Navcams will be put to work with a dust-devil movie, dust-devil survey, five cloud movies, and two line-of-sight observations of the north crater rim. Mastcam also gets involved in the environmental fun with a tau to track the amount of dust in the air.
  Even with all of these activities, we decided that we aren’t yet done with this area. The drive in today’s plan is a short bump of about 2 meters (about 6.6 feet), so we’re all looking forward to continuing our investigation of this ridge on Monday.
  
  Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
  
  Visit Mission Updates
  
  Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
  
  Visit the Science Instruments page
  
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
  
  Details
  Last Updated Aug 26, 2025 Related Terms
  Blogs Explore More
  3 min read To See the World in a Grain of Sand: Investigating Megaripples at ‘Kerrlaguna’
  
  Article
  
  4 days ago
  2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4636-4637: Up Against a Wall
  
  Article
  
  5 days ago
  3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4634-4635: A Waiting Game
  
  Article
  
  6 days ago
  Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
  Mars
  
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
  
  All Mars Resources
  
  Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
  
  Rover Basics
  
  Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
  
  Mars Exploration: Science Goals
  
  The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
  
  View the full article
- Curiosity Blog, Sols 4636-4637: Up Against a Wall
  By NASA
  
  Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
  Curiosity Blog, Sols 4636-4637: Up Against a Wall
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, showing itself parked at the wall of a fracture named “Río Frío.” Curiosity used its Left Navigation Camera on Aug. 19, 2025 — Sol 4634, or Martian day 4,634 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 14:51:33 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Michelle Minitti, MAHLI Deputy Principal Investigator, Framework
  Earth planning date: Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025
  What does a good rover do when her back is up against a wall? Fight for science!
  Curiosity indeed fought the good fight at “Río Frío,” the wall of one of the many ridges cutting through the boxwork terrain we have been systematically exploring. The observations along the wall today provide insight into the internal structure and chemistry of the ridges, hopefully giving us clues as to why they are standing proud relative to the surrounding terrain.
  The structural story will be told by the large Mastcam mosaics we planned, covering the ridge from base to top, and from a MAHLI mosaic covering a horizon of the wall filled with resistant nodules and smooth, swooping surfaces cutting in all directions that are likely veins. The mosaic target, “Jardín de las Delicias,” will surely yield a surfeit of Martian delights. The chemical story will be told by APXS analysis of the nodule-filled target “Minimini” and SuperCam analysis of a vein at “El Tapado.” In contrast to the ridge itself, we planned a Mastcam mosaic of part of the hollow at the base of the ridge at target “Playa Zapatilla.”
  Beyond the ridge, we planned Mastcam and ChemCam imaging of the “Paniri” and “Mishe Mokwa” buttes, respectively, and sky observations with Navcam and Mastcam. DAN, RAD, and REMS run periodically through the plan keeping their eye on the Martian environment. Our drive will take us to a smaller ridge perpendicular to Río Frío, where we will once again fight to learn the secrets these ridges have to tell about Mars’ past.
  
  Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
  
  Visit Mission Updates
  
  Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
  
  Visit the Science Instruments page
  
  NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
  
  Details
  Last Updated Aug 20, 2025 Related Terms
  Blogs Explore More
  3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4634-4635: A Waiting Game
  
  Article
  
  1 day ago
  2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4631-4633: Radiant Ridge Revolution
  
  Article
  
  1 day ago
  2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4629-4630: Feeling Hollow
  
  Article
  
  3 days ago
  Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
  Mars
  
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited…
  
  All Mars Resources
  
  Explore this collection of Mars images, videos, resources, PDFs, and toolkits. Discover valuable content designed to inform, educate, and inspire,…
  
  Rover Basics
  
  Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…
  
  Mars Exploration: Science Goals
  
  The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…
  
  View the full article
Check out these Videos

Sign In

Sols 4389-4390: A Wealth of Ripples, Nodules and Veins

Recommended Posts

NASA

Sols 4389-4390: A Wealth of Ripples, Nodules and Veins

Share

Details

Related Terms

Discover More Topics From NASA