Curiosity Blog, Sols 4595-4596: Just Another Beautiful Day on Mars

Written by Ashley Stroupe, engineer of mission operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA

Earth planning date: Wednesday July 9, 2025

In today’s plan, we have a little of everything. With the winter again, we take advantage of the ability to let the rover sleep, doing most afternoon activities when it is warmer and we need less heating. As a systems engineer (rising engineering liaison lead), I sequenced the necessary heating and some other engineering cleaning activities.

We start with a vast distant scientific block with Mastcam imaging of a hollow nearby to seek a potential sand activity. There is the color imagery of a moved block, “Ouro”, near a circular depression – could it be a little crater? Mastcam also takes a look at a crest “Volcán Peña Blanca” to look at the sedimentary structures, which can provide information on its training. Chemcam Libs and Mastcam combine to look at the target of “Los Andes”, which is the dark face of a nearby foundation. Chemcam RMI and Mastcam consult a small distant outcrop to examine the geometry of the diapers. We also throw environmental observations, a Mastcam solar tau and a navcam site line looking at the dust in the atmosphere. After a nap, curiosity will carry out scientific contact activities on the targets of the substratumary “cataratas del Jardín” and “Rio Ivirizu”. Looking at two targets nearby for variability can help us understand local geology. Cataratas del Jardín obtains brushing to eliminate dust before the two targets are examined by Mahli and APXS. Fortunately for the Rover Arm planner, these two targets are quite flat and easy to reach. Before sleeping for the night, curiosity will put the arm to be ready to drive on the next floor. On the second soil, there is more distant science. Chemcam Libs and Mastcam will examine “Torotoro”, another piece of rocky substratum in layers. Chemcam RMI will take a mosaic of “paniri”, which is an interesting incision in the rock which is filled with another material. There are also environmental observations, a Navcam Dust Devil survey and a suprahorizon film. After another nap, curiosity rises on the road. We head southwest (direction shown in the image) about 50 meters (around 164 feet), but we have to sneak between sand wells and a skirt around a land that we cannot see behind. The land here offers good driving, however, without many large rocks, steep slopes or pointed rocks which can pierce holes in our wheels. After the standard post-training imagery for our next plan, there are some Navcam observations to search for clouds and our normal look under the rover with Tuesday before curiosity sets for the night.