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
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.