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22 July 2015
Sols 1051-1054: Approaching "Lion"
After driving just over 20 meters, the rover stopped 4.4 meters short of the Sol 1049 drive goal because the vehicle pitch exceeded the 15-degree limit set by the rover drivers. So another 6.4-meter drive toward the bright outcrop of interest, dubbed “Lion,” was planned for Sol 1051. That drive completed successfully, providing a good view of the outcrop. ChemCam and Mastcam observed the sand ripple “Agency” and bedrock target …
20 July 2015
Sols 1048-1050: Test drill and drive
The Sol 1046 wheel imaging completed nominally, and the rover is a little over 1 meter from its previous location. So the outcrop to the right of the vehicle is still close enough for ChemCam LIBS measurements, and I helped select new targets again today. The Sol 1048 plan includes ChemCam and Mastcam observations of “Pinto,” “Palomino,” and “Burnt Point” plus a Navcam search for clouds toward the north. …
17 July 2015
Sols 1046-1047: Wheel imaging
The 8.5-meter Sol 1044 drive completed as planned, leaving the rover in a relatively flat and smooth area that is suitable for imaging of the wheels. Wheel imaging is done periodically to assess wear, and it’s time to acquire new data, so the Sol 1046 includes 5 sets of MAHLI, Mastcam, and MARDI images separated by short rover bumps to allow the entire surfaces of the wheels to be …
14 July 2015
Sol 1044-1045: Finishing the Drive
The drive over the weekend stopped a bit early (~17 meters instead of the intended ~25 meters) because the software that the rover uses to monitor its drive progress was being extra cautious. The rover is fine, and in the sol 1044 plan we will keep driving. Before the drive, ChemCam has observations of targets of varying textures named “Edith”, “Sheffer”, and “Finley”. Mastcam will take some documentation images of …
13 July 2015
Sols 1041-1043: Busy weekend planned
The rover bumped back 33 cm on Sol 1039, placing all 6 wheels on firm ground and allowing contact science on the bright rocks near the top of the slope in front of the vehicle. So the weekend plan is a full one, including both contact science and a drive back toward the southwest. First, on Sol 1041, ChemCam will passively (no laser) acquire spectra of the sky and a rock …
10 July 2015
Sols 1039-1040: Livin’ on the Edge
I’m MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, and was ready this morning to plan lots of MAHLI imaging of the bright rocks on the slope the rover first climbed on Sol 991. But the data received after the 5.5-meter drive on Sol 1037 showed that the left front wheel is perched right at the top of a small scarp at the top of the slope. After examining all the data, the …
7 July 2015
Sols 1037-1038: Familiar Terrain
By Lauren Edgar Over the weekend holiday plan, Curiosity drove back to our location on Sol 992. Previous DAN and ChemCam data from this site showed some interesting results, so we want to investigate this region in more detail. The front Hazcam image above shows our wheel tracks from the last time we were here, and some of the bright outcrop that we want to study further. Today’s two-sol …
6 July 2015
Sol 1033-1036: Independence Day Planning!
To paraphrase our SOWG chair’s paraphrasing of the Declaration of Independence at the start of today’s SOWG meeting: “When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to plan a 4 sol plan, we assemble a group of patriots to make that plan. And that’s what we did today!” Today I was back on duty as KOP and Ken was on duty for ChemCam science. As usual, it was …
2 July 2015
Sol 1032: Lots of Contact Science!
Phew! Today was a busy day on Mars! Ken and I were both on operations today, picking up where Lauren left off yesterday. Ken was helping with ChemCam science in the geology and mineralogy (GeoMin) theme group, and I was the GeoMin Keeper of the Plan (KOP). We started off the day admiring the beautiful images from the sol 1031 “dog’s-eye view” mosaic of the ledge near the target “Missoula”. …
1 July 2015
Sol 1031: A Dog’s Eye View at Missoula
By Lauren Edgar Today we planned some MAHLI imaging along the contact near the “Missoula” target (the ledge in the upper left portion of this Navcam image). We refer to it as a dog’s eye mosaic, meaning that we use the MAHLI camera to take a series of images along a vertical face – essentially sticking our nose in there to get a good view. Hopefully it will provide …
