Curiosity: Summer approaches in Gale crater
Published Date: 9/1/2020
Source: phys.org
Mars is often a very dynamic place due to its atmosphere and how it interacts with the surface. At present, we're in the "windy season" in Gale crater. This means that we're seeing increased aeolian (meaning "related to the wind") activity at the surface. In recent sols, we've taken Mastcam images of the same surface ripples on multiple sols. We've been able to see the ripples moving from sol to sol, due to wind moving the sand grains that make up the ripples, which tells us both the dominant wind direction and how strong the wind is. Today's plan included more observations designed to look for changes on the surface and rover deck: a MARDI image of the region below the rover, to prepare for making more images of that location over the next few sols so we can look for changes, and a Navcam deck pan, to look for changes to dust and sand grains on the rover deck.