Sol 1395 (January 22, 2025)
2 images from site 65.0, the recent one featuring a new abrasion patch.
Sol 1395 R-NavCam tile, and a tile acquired during sol 1381.
Comparing the images indicates displacement of some regolith, movement of some pebbles, and apparent settlement of the some fractured sections of the rock.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
LOL And here I was lamenting the lack of new activity just hours ago...
They've been abrading a lot more holes lately - this is the fourth since Percy reached Pico Turquino only ~2 months ago, comparable to the rate at which we were working on the delta fan. Good times ahead!
I was checking every day for new images, and beginning to fear a separate issue. Glad to see the commencement of activities after the tragic fire and the earlier layoffs.
Looking forward to the close-up images and to see if the rock is suitable for coring. The movements of the fractured plates my rule out coring, maybe they'll look for a less fractured sample :)
Younger (stupider) me thought that geotechnical engineering was boring and tedious, but as time goes on, and I see how much trouble it is to drill and collect samples from places like Mars, Luna, or the asteroids, I admit I'm changing my mind here. Between InSight's troubles with the mole burrowing into that clumpy regolith in Elysium and the crumbly stuff Percy has to deal with, I'm realizing that we need some bright people to address these unexpected material properties with good hardware. I'll add "sampling engineers" to the list of unsung heroes I'd love to hear more from, like the people behind Ingenuity!
They already employ some of the smartest engineers and scientists across our global village, but each new mission, throws a bunch of new spanners into the works, those unexpected issues force them to come up with new hardware and better instruments for follow on missions :) It's a pity this mission has suffered from less mission updates compared with its cousin (MSL) After the recent job cuts I don't see that situation improving any time soon. :( Also we have a new government in the US, time will tell what budgets are provided for planetary exploration.