The MAHLI images acquired on Sol 3528 confirm that the APXS was well placed over the Avanavero drill tailings, and the APXS data look good so we are ready to drive away from this location.

But first, we are planning a few more MAHLI and remote sensing observations. ChemCam will shoot its laser at a vein target named "Chiung" on the right side of the rover, then will acquire another RMI mosaic to extend the coverage of a bright mound with numerous veins.

Mastcam will also extend stereo coverage of the "Amacuro" outcrop, document ChemCam's Chiung target, and monitor changes in the distribution of material on the rover deck.

After Navcam searches for dust devils, Mastcam will look for changes in nearby rover tracks at Kamana. The arm will then be deployed to acquire another MAHLI image of the drill tailings to determine whether the APXS touched the tailings during the overnight integration planned on Sol 3528. MAHLI will also take images from 25 and 5 cm of a vein named "La Laja."

Then the arm will be stowed for the drive. We are not expecting to receive as much data as usual for future planning, so downlink priorities were carefully reviewed, especially for the post-drive images.

Imaging Details
When this image was obtained, the focus motor count position was 14164. This number indicates the internal position of the MAHLI lens at the time the image was acquired. This count also tells whether the dust cover was open or closed. Values between 0 and 6000 mean the dust cover was closed; values between 12500 and 16000 occur when the cover is open.

For close-up images, the motor count can in some cases be used to estimate the distance between the MAHLI lens and target. For example, in-focus images obtained with the dust cover open for which the lens was 2.5 cm from the target have a motor count near 15270.

If the lens is 5 cm from the target, the motor count is near 14360; if 7 cm, 13980; 10 cm, 13635; 15 cm, 13325; 20 cm, 13155; 25 cm, 13050; 30 cm, 12970. These correspond to image scales, in micrometers per pixel, of about 16, 25, 32, 42, 60, 77, 95, and 113.

Related Links
Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

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Everyone gets to savour the Avanavero flavours: Sols 3528-3529
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 10, 2022
Both the CheMin and SAM instruments have dined on the Avanavero drill samples and have decided their appetites are sated. CheMin has completed X-ray diffraction mineralogical analysis of the Avanavero drill sample, and SAM their Evolved Gas Analysis. Both instrument teams are satisfied with their analyses and SAM are not opting to do a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry run. Now it is the turn of MAHLI, APXS and ChemCam to investigate the flavour of the drill fines around the Avanavero drill hol ... read more