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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. …
13 January 2016
Sols 1223-1224: Scooping sand for SAM
The Sol 1221 drive went well, including a wheel scuff in the dark sand dune, and the rover is in a good position for contact science. The Sol 1223-1224 plan is therefore loaded with arm activities, limited by the available power. First, MAHLI will take pictures of a couple of locations on the dune surface that has not been disturbed by the wheels, and of sand that was disturbed by …
10 January 2016
Sols 1218-1220: Change in plans
We came in this morning curious to see how the Sol 1217 bump and scuff went, but unfortunately there was an anomaly that prevented any use of motors during the plan. No motors meant no drive and no scuff, and most of our planned activities did not occur. So today turned into a recovery day – first trying to assess what happened and why it happened, and then figuring out …
7 January 2016
Sol 1217: Where to sample?
On Sol 1216 Curiosity drove 43 m toward the Namib Dune sampling location. That meant that today we had to decide on our final sampling spot, and there were many different factors to consider. I was the GSTL today, and it was a busy morning trying to figure out our top science priorities. We eventually settled on a location that met all of our science objectives: a sharp-crested ripple that …
23 December 2015
Sol 1202-1213: Holidays on Earth, Busy Days on Mars
Today’s plan is a four sol Holiday plan covering Sol 1202-1205, and it will be followed by some pre-planned activities to take us all the way until Sol 1214 and the new year here on Earth, so there’s a lot to talk about! On Sol 1202, we will first repeat the ChemCam RMI and Mastcam change detection images that we’ve been acquiring of the nearby dunes. Then the arm will …
22 December 2015
Sol 1201-1202: Arm Diagnostics
Based on the latest images from Navcam, Hazcam, and Mastcam it looks like at least some of the “Greenhorn” sample was dumped before the arm ran into difficulties.The plan for sol 1201 has a lot of diagnostics to help our engineers to better understand what happened with the arm. It is very likely that the arm hardware is OK, but the diagnostics will allow us to avoid this problem in …
11 December 2015
Sols 1191-1193: On the road again
We received the data needed to plan contact science and a drive, and the 3-sol weekend plan is another full one. I was busy as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead, planning observations of a couple targets on an outcrop right in front of the rover. On Sol 1191, MAHLI will acquire full suites of images of “Elizabeth Ray” and “Pomona” before the APXS is placed on Pomona for an afternoon/evening integration. During …
10 December 2015
Sols 1189-1190: Drive precluded
Because of a problem with one of the DSN station antennas, the data needed to plan a drive today were not received, so the Sol 1189-90 plan is dominated by remote sensing observations. Neither driving nor arm activities are possible until the necessary images are retransmitted. On Sol 1189, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the bedrock to the right of the rover, then Mastcam and Navcam will image the workspace …
7 December 2015
Sols 1184-1187: Busy weekend at High Dune
The rover has arrived at the edge of “High Dune” and we have a very busy weekend plan studying the dune and then continuing to drive. On sol 1184 we will continue testing the AEGIS software that allows the rover to fine-tune its targeting for ChemCam. After that, ChemCam will analyze two targets “Barby” and “Kibnas” and Mastcam will take a 7×8 mosaic of a sand ripple. In the afternoon, …
