SHERLOC Ran Well -- Over 30% Beyond The Designed / Expected Lifespan... But It Seems The Dust-Cover Is Frozen, Partially Open -- Now, 210 Million Miles Off, On Mars.

So it is, that we probably won't see much more from SHERLOC, on the Perseverance mission.

But that's okay. There are several other "regular" wide angle cameras and lenses on the rover's boom. Its central goal was achieved last June, in any event, finding solid evidence of some billions of years old watery / organics signatures, in the dry rocks of “Beehive Geyser” -- using luminescence signature sensitivities. Here is the latest, on the JPL team's root cause analysis work, to see if the dust cover might be removable -- or dropped altogether, to get things working again on SHERLOC:

. . .Data and imagery from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate one of two covers that keep dust from accumulating on the optics of the SHERLOC instrument remains partially open. In this position, the cover interferes with science data collection operations. Mounted on the rover’s robotic arm, SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) uses cameras, a spectrometer, and a laser to search for organic compounds and minerals that have been altered in watery environments and may be signs of past microbial life.

The mission determined on Jan. 6 that the cover was oriented in such a position that some of its [regular] modes could not successfully operate. An engineering team has been investigating to determine the root cause and possible solutions. Recently, the cover partially opened. To better understand the behavior of the cover’s motor, the team has been sending commands to the instrument that alter the amount of power being fed to it.

With the cover in its current position, the instrument cannot use its laser on rock targets, and cannot collect spectroscopy data. However, imaging microscopy can still be acquired with WATSON, a color camera on SHERLOC used for taking close-up images of rock grains and surface textures. WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) operates through a different aperture. . . .

Now you know. Onward, grinning -- with lil' grand-nieces over tonight and tomorrow night -- and endlessly big fun!

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