Curiosity Blog Celebrates Rover Engineers Past and Present

**University of New Brunswick researcher leads APXS operations for Mars rover** – Lucy Thompson, a senior research scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada, reported on Friday, July 27, 2026, that she is serving as the APXS (Alpha Particle X‑ray Spectrometer) uplink lead and strategic planner for the ongoing Mars rover mission. In her role, Thompson coordinates daily uplink sequences with rover engineers, ensuring that the APXS instrument is correctly calibrated and that data collection commands are transmitted to the rover’s payload. The APXS, mounted on the rover’s robotic arm, is tasked with measuring the elemental composition of rocks, soils and unconsolidated materials encountered on the Martian surface, providing critical information for assessing past habitability and geological processes.

Since the start of the current campaign, the APXS has returned over 1,200 spectra from diverse terrain, including basaltic outcrops in the Jezero crater delta and layered sedimentary deposits in the Nili Fossae region. Preliminary analysis confirms the presence of silica-rich veins and elevated concentrations of iron, magnesium and sulfur, consistent with aqueous alteration identified by other rover instruments. The data are being integrated into the mission’s broader scientific framework to refine models of Mars’ ancient water activity and to prioritize future sampling sites for the upcoming Perseverance‑II mission.

Thompson’s coordination of the APXS uplink schedule has enabled continuous, high‑resolution chemical mapping, contributing to the mission’s objectives of characterizing Martian geology and evaluating its past environmental conditions. The ongoing collaboration between university researchers and rover engineering teams underscores the interdisciplinary effort required to advance planetary science and prepare for subsequent exploration initiatives.