I’m having another very busy day as SOWG Chair, as we are planning lots of activities to keep the rover busy this weekend.  The vehicle is on a local high spot that gives us a spectacular view of the terrain ahead.  But there aren’t many targets in front of the rover that are suitable for contact science,

so we selected only one (called “Ravalli”) to investigate using MAHLI and APXS.  We had time for another contact science target, but decided that it would not be worthwhile to study the smaller rocks that are within arm’s reach.

On Sol 1082, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe Ravalli and a brighter rock dubbed “Sawtooth” before Mastcam acquires a 23×6 mosaic of the nice outcrops ahead.  Mastcam and Navcam will look up at the sky at about the same time that the Mars Odyssey orbiter will be passing over, to compare results of observations from above and the surface.  Then the arm will be deployed for contact science and the APXS placed on Ravalli for overnight integration.

ChemCam and Mastcam will observe a couple more bright blocks on Sol 1083, named “Stonewall” and “Wolsey” before the rover drives toward the south.  We’ll then acquire the usual post-drive images and DAN active data.  On the last sol (1084), ChemCam will take some calibration data and SAM will clean its scrubber in preparation for future measurement.

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.