You are browsing the archive for Ryan Anderson.
6 February 2016
Sols 1245-1247: Analyzing Murray formation bedrock
On Sol 1244, Curiosity bumped 2 meters forward to get to a nice patch of bedrock. The focus of the weekend plan is to study typical Murray formation bedrock, do some targeting remote sensing, and then drive towards the Naukluft Plateau. The 3-sol weekend plan starts by using the DRT to clear off the dust on the target “Kudis.” Then we’ll acquire MAHLI images of this typical Murray formation bedrock. …
4 February 2016
Sol 1244: Bump, Set… Scuff!
Today’s plan is focused on bumping towards a bedrock target to set us up for contact science in the weekend plan. As we bump forward, we’ll use the rear wheels to create one last scuff in Namib Dune, which we’ll image as we drive away. I was the GSTL today, and we had a busy morning deciding where to drive to and how to image the scuff that we’ll create. …
3 February 2016
Sol 1243: Getting ready to leave Namib Dune
The contact science activities on Sol 1242 were successful, which completed our investigation at the Namib Dune sampling location. I love the above Navcam image, which shows just how close we were able to get MAHLI to the dump piles, followed by the really high-resolution MAHLI image! Now it’s time to leave Namib Dune and head off in search of the next drill location. I was the GSTL today, and …
Sol 1242: Last analyses of the dump piles
Today was the last day for science activities at Namib Dune, as we’re planning to drive away on Sol 1243. It’s fun looking at the disturbed sand in the workspace, and realizing how much we’ve done here (is it just me, or does it look like a big sandbox full of scoops, dumps and wheel scuffs?). While it might look like Curiosity has just been playing in the sand, we’ve …
2 February 2016
Sol 1241: Wrapping up at Namib Dune
Curiosity is still parked at Namib dune, and we are we are close to finishing the science investigation here. The team is still working to diagnose the CHIMRA anomaly, but the arm was cleared for use in today’s plan. The science activities in today’s plan include some additional MAHLI images to supplement the previously acquired selfie, and some long-distance ChemCam RMI mosaics to study layering on Mt. Sharp and the …
31 January 2016
Sol 1239-1240: Analyzing the Sands of Mars
Since the anomaly with CHIMRA is still being investigated, there was no science involving the arm in today’s plan. Still, there was plenty to do, and we had to be careful not to collect too much extra data because there is a backlog of data on the rover waiting to be downlinked to Earth. On Sol 1239 we planned a bunch of observations of a target called “Gosser Schroffenstein” in …
27 January 2016
Sols 1237-1238: Viewing an Alluvial Fan during CHIMRA Diagnostics
The cause of the CHIMRA anomaly is still being investigated, so no arm motion was planned today while diagnostic testing continues. Because only remote science observations are allowed, it was a straightforward day for me as SOWG Chair and for the rest of the tactical science team. The only challenge was that the volume of data expected to be received in time for planning on Friday is less than usual …
26 January 2016
Sols 1235-1236: CHIMRA Anomaly
I’m scheduled as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, and was looking forward to planning more close-up imaging as the Namib dune campaign continues. Unfortunately, the CHIMRA behaved in an unexpected way during processing of the third scoop on Sol 1231, which prevented completion of the arm activities planned for last weekend. While experts evaluate the anomalous behavior and develop a recovery plan, no new arm activities will be planned. So I …
24 January 2016
Sol 1232-1235: Working through the To-Do list
We are steadily continuing to check things off of the long “To Do” list for our stop at Namib Dune. This weekend’s plan starts on sol 1232 with a day dedicated to analyzing the sand samples with SAM. Then, on Sol 1233 we will start off with Mastcam change detection on the target “Hebron” and then a “multispectral” observation of the target “Hakos” using all of Mastcam’s different color filters. …
21 January 2016
Sol 1230-1231: Getting the scoop at Namib Dune
Our campaign to analyze “Namib Dune” continues! In the sol 1230-1231 plan the main event is dropping off some sand in the SAM instrument, but some of the other instruments got a workout too. The sol 1230 plan originally included a science block with some ChemCam, Mastcam, and Navcam observations, but unfortunately that had to be cut to save power, so those observations will have to happen over the weekend. …
