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10 August 2016
Sol 1427: Driving away
After successfully completing the drilling activities at Marimba, it’s time to get back on the road. Today’s plan is focused on targeted remote sensing and driving. The plan starts with a Navcam movie to monitor the atmosphere, followed by Mastcam documentation of several autonomously selected ChemCam targets. Then we’ll acquire a couple of ChemCam observations and Mastcam multispectral imaging of the Marimba pre-sieve dump pile before driving away. After a short …
9 August 2016
Sol 1426: Bringing in the data at Marimba
Today’s plan is focused on retrieving CheMin data from the overnight analysis of the Marimba drill sample and MAHLI and APXS observations of the drill hole and cuttings. The plan starts with a short science block for atmospheric monitoring, followed by CheMin data readout. Then we’ll do a short Mastcam change detection activity before dumping the pre-sieved drill sample. After we dump the sample, we’ll acquire Mastcam, Navcam and MAHLI …
8 August 2016
Sol 1421: Determining drill activities at Marimba
On Sol 1420 we planned a full drill hole on the target “Marimba” to characterize the composition of the Murray mudstone in this location. However, we came in early this morning to find that the drill hole didn’t penetrate very far into this rock target, as seen in the above MAHLI image. We’re trying to evaluate why this drill hole is different, and what prevented the drill from completing as …
3 August 2016
Sol 1420: Drilling Marimba
The Sol 1419 activities completed successfully, including cleaning the remaining Oudam sample out of CHIMRA. So the focus of the Sol 1420 plan is drilling into the Marimba bedrock target. But first, MAHLI will image the “noseprint” of the APXS contact sensor in the Oudam dump pile and the drill target from various distances. After the drilling has completed, the drill bit and the new drill hole will be imaged …
2 August 2016
Sol 1419: Cleaning CHIMRA
Again, the tactical operations team was able to squeeze some additional science activities into the plan.
1 August 2016
Sol 1418: Preparing to drill Marimba
Today’s plan was all about setting up for our next drill hole. Originally there was going to be no science block at all, but we ended up with a little bit more power than expected, so we managed to fit in a ChemCam observation of the expected drill target, called “Marimba” along with Mastcam documentation.
29 July 2016
Sols 1416-1417: Approaching the next drill target
MSL drove another 44 meters on Sol 1414, into an area with larger blocks of bedrock. This looks like a good area to drill into the Murray Formation, so nearby targets were selected and we are planning a short drive to position the vehicle for drilling. But first, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe bedrock targets “Chibia” and “Dondo.” Mastcam will also measure the dust in the atmosphere and take an image of the Sol 1414 ChemCam AEGIS target.
27 July 2016
Sols 1414-1416: Keep on truckin’
MSL drove over 45 meters on Sol 1412, to a location with lots of bedrock exposed but most of it is coated by dust. So again we decided not to deploy the arm and acquire lots of ChemCam data instead. LIBS observations of targets named “Okahandja,” “Swakopmund,” and “Walvis Bay” will be followed by another long-distance RMI mosaic. Then the Right Mastcam will image the ChemCam targets and acquire a 5-image mosaic of the Murray Buttes. The Left Mastcam will take a 7-image mosaic of the bedrock in front of the rover before the Sol 1414 drive.
25 July 2016
Sols 1412-1413: No touch, just Go!
The Right Mastcam will also acquire a 14-image mosaic of the Murray Buttes early in the morning, and we finally were able to plan the long-distance RMI mosaic!
24 July 2016
Sols 1409-1411: Finishing up at Bimbe
I am starting to think this observation is cursed! I’ll have to try again next week.
