Sols 4270-4272: Sample for SAM – NASA Science

The focus for this three-sol weekend plan is delivering a portion of the Kings Canyon drill sample to SAM for Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA), following on from a successful CheMin analysis. The CheMin and SAM analyses, coupled with APXS and ChemCam analyses, will tell us about the composition and mineralogy of this block within the Gediz Vallis channel deposit. We can compare it to the composition and mineralogy of the intriguing Mammoth Lakes drilled sample at Whitebark Pass, which was near the elemental sulfur blocks, and also within the Gediz Vallis deposit, as well as to the bedrock outside the channel and other previous drilled samples. This will help inform the source(s) of the blocks, which could be derived from higher up on Mount Sharp.