The short Sol 1250 drive completed successfully, placing the rover in position for contact science on the bedrock outcrop of interest.  We’re planning 2 sols today and 3 sols tomorrow to get the rover through the upcoming holiday weekend.  On Sol 1251, ChemCam will observe a bright vein called “Fiskus” and the sieved sand samples will be dumped onto the bedrock.  Mastcam will take stereo images of the dump piles, then MAHLI will image the dump piles and a separate brush target named “Kuiseb.”  After the DRT brushes Kuiseb, the APXS will be placed on the brushed spot for an overnight integration. SAM will also measure the composition of the atmosphere overnight.

The Sol 1252 plan starts with lots of remote sensing:  A multispectral Mastcam observation of Fiskus, ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam observations of bumpy features “Vingerklip” and “Buntfeldschuh” on the bedrock, ChemCam RMI mosaics of distant targets, and a Navcam search for clouds.  Then the APXS will be placed on its calibration target for an overnight integration.  Whew–a busy planning day!

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.