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16 July 2016
Sols 1402-1404: A juicy weekend plan for Curiosity
Not surprisingly, this is a very power-hungry plan, so we had to trim down some activities during the SOWG meeting. But we managed to get almost everything into the plan, and have set ourselves up for the possibility of more contact science on Monday. Should be a fun weekend in Gale crater!
14 July 2016
Sol 1401: Curiosity checks out blocky deposits
The drive on Sol 1400 went well, and Curiosity drove approximately 13 meters along the edge of the blocky deposit “Bimbe.” Today’s plan involves a number of ChemCam and Mastcam observations to assess the composition and textural properties of three large blocks in the deposit. We’ll also acquire a Mastcam mosaic to document the eastern edge of the deposit, and a Navcam observation to search for dust devils. Then Curiosity …
13 July 2016
Sol 1400: Curiosity approaching the “Bimbe” blocky deposit
Today’s plan starts with some Mastcam mosaics…
12 July 2016
Sol 1399: Curiosity rover on the road again
We’re back in our familiar drive pattern, with a short science block followed by a drive. In today’s pre-drive science block, ChemCam and Mastcam will be used to study the target “Arandis” to document the chemistry of the local bedrock. Then we’ll acquire several Mastcam mosaics to study some blocky deposits and document laminations in the Murray formation. A drive of about 45 meters is planned, followed by post-drive imaging …
6 July 2016
Curiosity Update: Safe Mode
The Curiosity rover activities planned for Sols 1387 and 1388 completed successfully, and lots of good data were returned including a stunning Right Mastcam panorama of the “Murray Buttes” toward the southwest. One of the images in this panorama shows a boulder that appears to be precariously balanced. No, we don’t plan to drive right up next to it, but we’ll probably get closer looks as the rover proceeds toward …
4 July 2016
Sol 1389-1391: Holiday Weekend, Good Luck Juno!
Today we put together a three sol plan to take us through the holiday weekend. On Sol 1389 we do contact science with APXS and MAHLI on the target “Outjo.” SAM also will begin an analysis of some of the “Mojave2” sample that was collected a while ago. Sol 1390 starts off with a long science block. This was originally split into two blocks, but during planning we decided it …
30 June 2016
Sol 1387-1388: Curiosity Rover’s Limited Targeting Data
In the lead up to the long 4th of July weekend, we are planning two sols today and three sols tomorrow. We only had a couple of Navcam images on the ground this morning to help us choose targets, but we still managed to find two targets for ChemCam to analyze on Sol 1387: a rock named “Noordoewer” and a soil named “Savates”. Mastcam will document those targets and take …
29 June 2016
Sol 1386: Curiosity rover studying Trekkopje, checking the wheels
Our drive for the Curiosity rover in the Sol 1385 plan took us 66 meters, continuing our path south between the “Baynes Mountains” and “Helgas Dune.” The plan for Sol 1386 starts off with APXS and MAHLI observations of the target “Trekkopje,” followed by a short science block. Mastcam will start off the block with some atmospheric measurements, then ChemCam will join in the fun and analyze Trekkopje too. Mastcam …
27 June 2016
Sol 1384: Curiosity Rover at Baynes Mountain
Our weekend Curiosity rover soliday plan was successful, putting us about halfway to our next likely drilling location. We are now in “unrestricted” planning again, meaning we will be getting data down overnight and can plan every day this week.
Sol 1382-1383: Curiosity Rover observes Phobos Transit and a “Soliday”
Curiosity rover’s contact science in the Sol 1380-1381 plan went well, so we’re back to driving in the weekend plan! Sol 1382 will start with a Mastcam video of Phobos crossing in front of the sun, plus a multispectral observation of the brushed target “Koes.” ChemCam will then analyze the targets “Koes,” “Kongola,” and “Rundu” and Mastcam will document those observations. After that, we will drop off some of the …
