We have had our first day off, done by planning two sols at once. In the meantime we discuss the results so far and enjoy some of the NavCam images from Sol 26. This one shows the robotic shadow of our 2 m high mast looming over a new area for analysis encountered as we go towards Glenelg.
One of the less well known instruments on Curiosity is called DAN (Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons). This is important because it fills a gap that the other instruments ChemCam and the X-ray spectrometer (APXS) cant easily fill. APXS will determine the major elements Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ca, Na, K but it wont directly give back information about how much water there is. In addition to any buried ice, some minerals of interest like clays contain water, so DAN observations will be very important during the mission and considering Bradbury Landing where we started. DAN works by measuring the reflectance of neutrons – hydrogen in water will absorb neutrons so if the reflectance decreases we know that there is more hydrogen and water.
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