As a journalist, I had the opportunity to lead the Geology team in our planned activities on Mars. Our schedule included a variety of targeted science at a distance, followed by contact science. We focused on several targets to observe using ChemCam and Mastcam, including Winnipeg, Alma, and Blackjack.
Our first target was “Winnipeg,” located in the Murray Formation. We used MAHLI and APKSS to determine its composition. Next, we moved on to “Alma” which helped us characterize the composition across the Murray-Stimson contact. “Blackjack” represented the resistant edge within the Murray Formation.
In addition to these observations, we also planned to record Mastcam mosaics to document the Murray-Stimson contact and study local structure and stratification. We also acquired Mastcam tau to estimate atmospheric opacity.
Afterwards, we took MAHLI images of the “Sacajave” target in the afternoon to investigate another resistant edge. Using DRT, we dusted off “Winnipeg” and took close-up MAHLI images to look for grain size variations. Finally, we used APKSS overnight to analyze the composition of the “Winnipeg” target.
Overall, our activities on Mars were successful in providing valuable insights into the planet’s geology and composition.