Despite giving it the "old college try," Curiosity's attempt to drill into the Marker Band at the "Encanto" site did not reach sampling depth. Because other rocks around the rover look similar to "Encanto" and are likely also too hard to drill, the Science Team decided to convert the plan to a "Touch and Go."

Although the Science Team is disappointed to leave this Marker Band location without a sample, Curiosity will use MAHLI, APXS, and ChemCam LIBS to analyze the chemistry and texture of the shallow "Encanto" drill hole and tailings, targeting the intriguing light-toned material exposed in the wall of the drill hole. We may see another location in the Marker Band worth sampling in the near future, but even if we don't, there will certainly be many more exciting drilling opportunities to look forward to as Curiosity continues her climb up Mt. Sharp!

In addition to a ~25 meter drive to the south on Sol 3721, Mastcam will take an image of the "Cacao" target to document the terrain in the direction that the rover is driving as well as a multispectral image of "Cana Dulce," a dark-toned rock that is perched on the surface of the Marker Band. Curiosity will round out the sol by observing the sky and looking for dust devils.

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

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Sols 3718-3720: Go For Drilling at Encanto
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 23, 2023
In the previous plan, Curiosity conducted a preliminary assessment of the potential drill target "Encanto" (as seen in the above MAHLI image) and today we received the data. The drill preload test and contact science data look good, so we are GO for our third attempt to get a sample of this marker band. Today's 3-sol plan includes the full drill on the first sol, followed by portion characterization on the second sol, and some remote sensing activities. The team planned ChemCam LIBS on two bedrock ... read more