Sols 3374-3375: MAHLI Lets the Dog Out at the Prow!

In our weekend drive we aimed to get up close to the "Toron" block, which is a "float rock" or out of place chunk of bedrock in the workspace. Unlike many float rocks, Toron's original location (tantalizingly out of reach on "The Prow,") can be pinpointed with confidence, which allows us to analyze the upper reaches of The Prow from a safe position.

The rover planners placed the rover in the optimal position to plan some amazing contact science. APXS analysis of the block (target "Sumuru", in the upper centre of Toron) will help determine geochemistry of The Prow.

One of the key items on our wish list here was to determine grain size, and MAHLI will take close-up images of Sumuru, hopefully allowing us to see grains. Unfortunately, Toron is too close for ChemCam to shoot with the LIBS laser (no holes in the rover, please!!).

Luckily the tricky terrain up to The Prow poses no difficulty to LIBS, which can comfortably analyse targets from several metres away. ChemCam will therefore use LIBS to analyze at "Karaurin" and RMI to image "Lago de Gladys," both located where we believe Toron to have originated.

The real star of the show however is the MAHLI "Dog's Eye" or mosaic image along the top of the Toron block. Dogs Eye mosaics are a lot of work for the MAHLI and rover planner teams, so they get reserved for targets with high scientific merit, like this one.

The mosaic will follow the sedimentary structures along the length of the block, and capture what appears to be a transition just above the Sumuru target. This set of 11 images will give us a wealth of knowledge, and hopefully help answer questions about the origin of The Prow.

We are staying at this location until Wednesday, when we will plan our next drive out and along the edge of The Prow.