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4 October 2015
Sols 1123-1125: Drill hole and tailings
This composite image looking toward the higher regions of Mount Sharp was taken on September 9, 2015, by NASA’s Curiosity rover. In the foreground — about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the rover — is a long ridge teeming with hematite, an iron oxide. Just beyond is an undulating plain rich in clay minerals. And just beyond that are a multitude of rounded buttes, all high in sulfate minerals. The …
1 October 2015
Sol 1121-1122: Successful Drill at Big Sky
Success! Our drill at “Big Sky” went perfectly! On Sol 1121, the rover will transfer some of the powder from Big Sky to CheMin so that it can begin analyzing the mineralogy of the sample. Also on Sol 1121, ChemCam has an observation of the target “Minnekahta”. Mastcam will document the ChemCam location and also take a picture of the location on the ground where Big Sky material will be …
28 September 2015
Sol 1119-1120: "Go" for full drill at Big Sky!
As you can see, our mini-drill over the weekend went well, so we are GO for drilling “Big Sky” on sol 1119! The hope is that this location will provide a good sample of the “typical” rock in the area to compare with some of the interesting alteration we’ve been seeing. Along with the drilling, there will be a bunch of MAHLI documentation images of the hole from varying distances …
27 September 2015
Sols 1116-1118: Small drill, Big Sky
It’s time to drill again! After much deliberation, we have decided to try drilling the target “Big Sky” at our current location, in hopes of getting a good sample of relatively unaltered bedrock to compare with some of the altered rocks we have seen nearby. Sol 1116 is dedicated to doing the mini-start hole, which is how we test if the rock is safe to drill. MAHLI will take documentation …
21 September 2015
Sol 1112-1113: Rough Driving
The drive on Sol 1111 stopped early after just over 15 meters because we were driving over rough terrain and part of the rover’s suspension exceeded the allowed amount of tilt (this is not a physical limit, just a threshold in the software that tells the rover to stop and check with Earth to be safe). The rover is fine and we plan to drive again in the Sol 1112 …
20 September 2015
Sols 1109-1111: Contact Science on Bright Outcrop
The plan for the weekend is to do a detailed analysis of the outcrop in front of us and then drive away and do some untargeted observations. Sol 1109 includes ChemCam observations of the targets “Cody” and “Leroy”, plus a Navcam dust devil search. After that, the rover will brush the dust off of Cody, with MAHLI images before and after. APXS will then analyze the target Ferdig, and then …
17 September 2015
Sol 1108: Limited data for planning
The 16.6-meter drive planned for Sol 1107 completed as planned, placing the rover in front of the bright outcrop of interest. As expected, only a few post-drive images were received in time for Sol 1108 planning, which made it more difficult than usual to pick targets for remote sensing observations and driving. However, we found some bright blocks that the Rover Planners confirmed would be good targets for contact science, …
15 September 2015
Sol 1106: Searching for the Next Drilling Location
After some additional contact science on the Murray formation (of the location shown in the above Mastcam image), we’re now in search of a good sandstone for our next drill target. The goal of today’s plan is to drive towards a bright patch of blocky outcrop that was first identified in orbital images, and to see if this outcrop is an area that we might want to investigate further. Today’s …
14 September 2015
Sol 1105: Murray Formation Contact Science
Over the weekend, Curiosity had a successful ~ 21 m drive, and we’re currently parked in front of a beautiful outcrop of the Murray formation (shown in the bottom half of the above Navcam image, overlain by Stimson). We’ve mostly been driving through the Stimson unit for the past 280 m, so this is a great opportunity to do contact science on the Murray formation to look for any changes …
13 September 2015
Sols 1102-1104: Arm error recovery
The Sol 1101 activities that we planned yesterday did not complete due to an arm error while it was being stowed. Apparently the shoulder azimuth motor was too cold, so the rover software halted the stow, which precluded the drive that was to follow. The rover is therefore in the same position that it was yesterday. I’m not scheduled in any operational role today, but I called in to help …
