Contact Science at a Record Setting Tilt

Curiosity is near the contact between the clay-bearing “Glen Torridon” unit and the “Greenheugh” pediment, and the rover is parked at a mission-record setting 26.9˚ tilt! This weekend, we are going to use the rover’s arm and remote sensing instruments to investigate the interesting textures and chemistry of rocks near the contact. On the first sol of this weekend’s plan, we will use ChemCam to collect chemical information from a bedrock target filled with nodules called “Garron Point” and a dark float rock that may have come from the Greenheugh pediment named “Mull of Galloway.” We will also DRT and collect APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam observations of “Berwickshire,” a typical-looking piece of bedrock. APXS and MAHLI will also observe “Cairnbulg,” an area with nodules, and MAHLI will take some images of a vein named “Ross and Cromarty.”