R-NavCam tile shows the latest abrasion patch on Mars.
Image acquired earlier today
NASA/JPL-Caltech
What do these patches tell us?
The chemical makeup of the rock.
Abrasion patches are created by Perseverance using a drill. Then it uses a laser to vaporize the rock, and sensors to analyze the chemical makeup of the vapor.
https://science.nasa.gov/resource/abrasion-patch-bellegarde/
Is that tire patterns in the top left corner?
Is that tire patterns in the top left corner?
They are small ripples in the soft sand between rocks, if you look in the NavCam images of the workspace on sol 1254 you can see many more examples.
These ripples are formed by the wind (aeolian process).
Thanks for the clarification, that’s what I imagined, but nice to hear it from someone else.