Sols 4520-4521: Prinzregententorte
- NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has acquired an image of its target area, “Hale Telescope,” using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera on Sol 4518 (April 22, 2025), featuring prominent laminations that reminded the science team of a layered-cake like Prinzregententorte.
- Curiosity successfully completed its plan tosol, which included APXS and MAHLI activities at “Hale Telescope,” as well as Mastcam images of nearby targets and long-distance imaging by ChemCam.
- The rover also conducted compositional analyses of the layered target “Fan Palm” using LIBS and completed a drive of about 23 meters (75 feet) in preparation for its three-sol weekend plan.
- On the second sol, Curiosity acquired Navcam images and a suprahorizon movie, as well as an upgraded version of the AEGIS activity that allows the rover to autonomously determine its own target to analyze with ChemCam.
- The science team is now analyzing the data from these activities, which will provide insights into the geology and composition of the Martian surface, shedding light on the planet’s history and potential for life.
3 min read
Sols 4520-4521: Prinzregententorte
Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington University
Earth planning date: Wednesday, April 23, 2025
I will start this blog with an apology, an apology because I suspect, by the end of this post, you, the reader, may have a craving for chocolate, or cake, or both. While we saw hints of it in the previous workspace, as captured by Susanne’s blog, today’s workspace featured prominent laminations throughout Curiosity’s sightlines, which presented the science team with the challenge of finding a safe place to utilize APXS (and MAHLI). Perhaps it was because of Easter last weekend, perhaps I needed an early lunch — whatever the cause, I could not shake the visual parallels between the rocks in our workspace, as captured in this blog’s image, and a many-layered-cake such as a Prinzregententorte.
The rover planners rose to the technical challenge, as they always do, and were ultimately able to find a safe area to place APXS on the top of the rock that is prominent just above and left of the center of today’s image. Combined with a green-light from SRAP, Curiosity now had its (cakey) target and could APXS it too.
Tosol’s APXS and MAHLI target, “Hale Telescope,” is named after the famous landmark located north-northwest of San Diego, California. I, for one, was not familiar with the history of this landmark, including how groundbreaking it was at the time of its development and commissioning through the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
Curiosity’s plan tosol started with APXS and MAHLI of Hale Telescope. These activities were complemented by Mastcam images of “Puerto Suelo” and “Potrero Seco,” as well as long-distance imaging by ChemCam of “Torote Bowl,” nearly 1 kilometer (about 0.6 miles) away. Curiosity also imaged and conducted compositional analyses of the layered target “Fan Palm,” slightly offset from Hale Telescope, with LIBS. Our intrepid rover then completed a drive of about 23 meters (about 75 feet) in preparation for the three-sol weekend plan.
On the second sol of the current plan, Curiosity acquired Navcam images and a suprahorizon movie. The highlight of the second sol, however, arguably was an upgraded version of the AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) activity where the rover will autonomously determine its own target to analyze with ChemCam while awaiting further instructions from Earth. The software upgrade will allow Curiosity’s team to know what target the rover chose to observe in time for us to make the weekend plan, even though the observation itself won’t happen on Mars until later.
Mars continues to offer stories written in stone, and like all good stories, the richness lies in the voices layered within. Or chocolate. The data aren’t down yet.
