You are browsing the archive for Curiosity.
7 October 2015
Sol 1127: Full MAHLI wheel imaging and bump
Planning is no longer restricted, but to ensure that Sol 1127 commands are ready to be sent to the rover on time, we had to start planning 1.5 hours earlier than usual this morning. The Sol 1126 images show that the APXS was well centered over the pre-sieve dump pile, so we are ready to move on. It’s time for a full set of MAHLI wheel images, which dominate the …
5 October 2015
Sol 1126: MAHLI selfie
The Mars Science Laboratory did well last weekend, but the Sol 1124 MAHLI images of the unsieved part of the drill sample showed that the APXS was not perfectly centered on the dump pile. Therefore, the Sol 1126 plan includes new MAHLI images and APXS measurements, better centered on the dump pile. Before the arm activities, ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of part of Mt. Sharp, a 5×1 LIBS raster …
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 …
24 September 2015
Sols 1114-1115: Contact science on Big Sky
The 14-meter Sol 1112 drive completed as planned, and the rover is in a good position for contact science. There are flat areas in front of the rover that are suitable for drilling, so the Sol 1114 plan includes DRT brushing, MAHLI imaging, and APXS measurements of a target named “Big Sky.” Before the arm is deployed, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe Big Sky and “Big Rock.” I’m MAHLI/MARDI uplink …
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, …
