Perseverance rover abrades a new patch. This time on ‘Mount Meeker’ during sol 859. It was imaged with its SHERLOC WATSON camera. I have stretched the colours to highlight the different materials present in the abraded surface. The diameter of the patch is approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches). Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Look at that mineral vein. Maybe they’ll core that?
I have a suspicion that what looks like a mineral filled fracture could be some of that ‘Desert Varnish’ like material that we have seen coating many rocks. Some of the early core samples had a similar coating, but because it is so thin, it may have been lost in the first moments of coring. This one (if it is that material) will be more likely to be retained if they core it… We’ll know where they target the core if they zap a letter “L” on the surface as they use that to orientate the sample with local north which will be important once they are back on Earth.
If it is a mineral filled fracture, then it’s also a win win scenario… :)