19 December 2016

Sols 1555-1557: Lots of Targets!

Posted by Ryan Anderson

Our short drive over the weekend went well, and we are now at a new location with plenty of science targets to choose from. It’s been quite a while since we had a plan with this many new target names! The Sol 1555 plan starts off with a remote sensing science block. Navcam and Mastcam both have atmospheric observations, and then ChemCam will analyze four targets: “Somes Sound,” “Schoodic Peninsula,” “South Bubble,” and “Schooner Head.” Mastcam then has a bunch of mosaics covering the targets “Old Soaker,” “Squid Cove,” “Sieur de Monts,” “Goat Trail” and “Bald Peak.”

Later on Sol 1555, we are planning a short “bump” to position the rover for possible contact science. After the bump, we’ll collect some post-drive images to help with targeting. On Sol 1556 Navcam has an atmospheric observation to watch for clouds, and on Sol 1557 we have a routine engineering diagnostic activity for the Hazcams, but otherwise Sols 1556 and 1557 are pretty quiet.

by Ryan Anderson

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