Curiosity’s Koes Adventure: A Two-Sol Plan for Unraveling Mars’ Mysteries

The two-sol plan for the Curiosity rover on Mars involves a range of activities that will help the team better understand the geology and environment of the Martian surface. At the heart of this plan is targeted remote sensing and contact science at a location called “Koes.” The team has been searching for a suitable location to conduct contact science on the Murray formation in the area, and “Koes” was chosen for this purpose.

Due to constraints on power and time, contact science could not be included in the weekend plan, making it an ideal opportunity to include it in this one. The plan will begin with ChemCam and Mastcam observations of both “Koes” and “Onawa” to gather data and characterize the Murray formation in the area. This will be followed by a Dust Removal Tool (DRT) being used to brush off a fresh surface at “Koes.” Once this is done, images will be captured with the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) before an Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) is placed on “Koes” for an overnight integration to analyze its composition.

A Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) preconditioning activity will also be conducted to heat up a sample cup in preparation for solid sample analysis. On Sol 1381, another ChemCam observation will be taken of the Murray formation at “Khoabendus,” while Mastcam will be used to characterize veins at the target “Helgas.” Finally, on Sol 1382, Navcam will be used to monitor atmospheric conditions and search for dust devils in the area.

Overall, this two-sol plan for Curiosity includes a combination of remote sensing observations, contact science activities, and instrument operations that are designed to further our understanding of Mars’ geology and environment.