Why were other payload operations reduced during the Basque Lakes tests?

Curiosity's onboard laboratories consume a large portion of the rover's daily electrical power budget, requiring mission operators to deprioritize other instruments during drill campaigns.

What will determine whether Curiosity conducts mass spectrometry on the sample?

The SAM team must first evaluate the volatile measurements obtained from the tunable laser spectrometer run before deciding whether to proceed with a mass spectrometry analysis.

Curiosity Rover Analyzes Basque Lakes Drill Sample

NASA's Curiosity rover conducted internal laboratory tests on rock powder collected from the Basque Lakes drill target between Sols 5029 and 5035 on Mars. Scientists completed mineralogical evaluations and began spectrometer runs to detect volatiles, temporarily scaling back other instruments to meet the rover's daily electrical power limits.

NASA's Curiosity rover conducted internal laboratory testing on rock powder extracted from the Basque Lakes drill target on Mars during Sols 5029 through 5035. The campaign focused on evaluating the sample's mineral structure and measuring trapped volatiles while managing the rover's electrical power limitations.

Onboard laboratory operations

The campaign centered on completing analysis with the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument, according to planetary scientist Michelle Minitti. Data generated by CheMin served as a prerequisite for the science team to determine whether to feed the powdered sample into the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.

Following the CheMin results, mission planners prepared SAM and ran an analysis using its tunable laser spectrometer (TLS) to search for volatiles. Running internal laboratories on Mars places heavy demands on Curiosity's power reserves. Minitti noted that the rover's lab activities consume a significant portion of its daily power budget, requiring other scientific payload operations to take a back seat during drill campaigns.

Geological imaging and surface chemistry

Before and during the laboratory run, Curiosity documented the drill site and surrounding terrain. The rover's Left Navigation Camera recorded an image of the Basque Lakes drill hole and its surrounding tailings on Sept. 24, 2026 (Sol 5024) at 05:46:29 UTC, NASA reported.

Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) gathered a 360-degree panorama to establish the geological setting around the sample, while the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument took Remote Micro-Imager pictures of the Cordillera butte. Mastcam and navigation cameras were also scheduled to conduct seven separate photometry observations at fixed times of day to measure changes in surface spectral characteristics under shifting Sun angles.

ChemCam also targeted several surface features nearby to gather chemical composition data. These targets included the interior walls of the Basque Lakes drill hole, a set of sand ripples designated French Creek, and two loose gray rock fragments named Wooley and Fireside.

Environmental tracking and next steps

Routine atmospheric monitoring ran concurrently with the geological tasks. Curiosity recorded environmental conditions using its Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument. Navcam and Mastcam tracked atmospheric dust loading, cloud formations, and passing dust devils.

The SAM team will evaluate results from the tunable laser spectrometer run to assess the volatiles present. Those measurements will determine whether the team conducts a follow-up mass spectrometry analysis on the Basque Lakes material.