24 August 2015

Sols 1085-1086: Rough road ahead

Posted by Ryan Anderson


MSL had a good weekend, and returned lots of data including nice MAHLI images of Ravalli.

The nearly 22-meter Sol 1083 drive completed as planned, and placed the rover near some nice rock outcrops.  I helped the planning team select targets for ChemCam observations; we settled on two that were named “Tinder Box” and “Gordon.”  Mastcam will acquire mosaics of these targets as well as “Centennial Range” and “Willow Ridge.”  There isn’t time/power for much more science, as another drive is planned for Sol 1085 and an overnight SAM atmospheric observation.  ChemCam, Mastcam and Navcam will make more atmospheric observations late in the morning of Sol 1086, along with the usual REMS background measurements.  The path ahead is rough but looks very interesting!

by Ken Herkenhoff

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.