[meteorite-list] Curiosity's Brushwork on Martian 'Bonanza King' Target

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 11:00:22 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201408191800.s7JI0Mqv000228_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=pia18602

Curiosity's Brushwork on Martian 'Bonanza King' Target

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used the Dust Removal Tool on its robotic
arm to brush aside reddish, more-oxidized dust, revealing a gray patch
of less-oxidized rock material at a target called "Bonanza King,"
visible in this image from the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam).

The Mastcam's right-eye camera, which has a telephoto lens, took this
image on Aug. 17, 2014, during the 722nd Martian day, or sol, of
Curiosity's work on Mars. The brushing activity occurred earlier the
same sol. The rover team is evaluating Bonanza King as a possible
drilling target. The mission has previously drilled into three target
rocks to collect sample powder for analysis by the rover's onboard
laboratory instruments.

The brushed area is about 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) across. It reveals
thin, white, cross-cutting veins. They might be sulfate salts or another
type of mineral that precipitated out of solution and filled fractures
in the rock. These thin veins might be related to wider light-toned
veins and features in the surrounding rock.

To the left of the brushed patch is a row of five smaller and less
conspicuous spots where dust has been partially removed. These are at
points on Bonanza King that were zapped with the laser of Curiosity's
Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on Sol 719 (Aug. 14, 2014).
Color balancing and contrast adjustment have been used in preparing this
image from Mastcam's raw image of this exposure.

Drilling a shallow test hole is the next step in evaluating this
location for full-depth drilling to collect a sample. The shallow
"mini-drill" test enables assessing whether powder from the drilling
tends to clump.

Bonanza King is on a ramp rising from the northeastern end of "Hidden
Valley," between Curiosity's August 2012 landing site in Gale Crater and
destinations on Mount Sharp within the crater.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute
of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built
the project's Curiosity rover. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego,
built and operates the rover's Mastcam.

More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl
and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.

Image details

ID#:
PIA18602 <http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA18602>

Date added:
2014-08-18

Target:
Mars

Mission:
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Spacecraft:
Curiosity

Instruments:
Mastcam

Image credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Received on Tue 19 Aug 2014 02:00:22 PM PDT