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30 July 2018
Sols 2124-2126: It’s a Hard Rock Life
Our attempt at drilling the target ‘Ailsa Craig’ was partly successful: the drill behaved exactly as it was supposed to, but unfortunately we weren’t able to drill very deep. The rock here is just too hard!
26 July 2018
Sols 2122-2123: Preparing to drill at "Ailsa Craig"
We’ll spend most of Sol 2123 recharging, but we also managed to squeeze in a few additional science observations, including two ChemCam LIBS analyses on nearby bedrock targets ‘Tolsta Head’ and ‘Appin.’
24 July 2018
Sol 2121: Blackjack!
Mars dealt us a winning hand today, yielding a sufficiently flat parking space after yesterday’s short bump to allow us to proceed with our plan to drill in this part of the ‘Vera Rubin Ridge.’
23 July 2018
Sol 2120: A Little Bump
Our weekend drive completed successfully and we have our next intended drill target attempt in the rover workspace.
20 July 2018
Sols 2117-2119: "Ben" There
Curiosity made great progress yesterday across the ‘Vera Rubin Ridge’ toward the site of our next drilling attempt at ‘Sgurr of Eigg’.
19 July 2018
Sol 2116: Driving back to Sgurr of Eigg
The Sol 2115 wheel imaging went well, and we received the images needed to plan a drive back to ‘Sgurr of Eigg,’ near the Sol 1999 rover position.
18 July 2018
Sol 2115: New method of wheel imaging
The priorities for Sol 2115 are to image the rover’s wheels and acquire the images needed to plan a drive back to the Sol 1999 location, where we might start another drilling campaign.
17 July 2018
Sol 2114: Finishing Up at the Voyageurs Drill Site
After Curiosity’s attempt to drill the Voyageurs target did not reach sufficient depth due to the impressive hardness of the rock , the team is…heading a bit further uphill to find a more suitable (i.e., softer) drill target.
16 July 2018
Sol 2113: Hard as a rock
Unfortunately, we found out this morning that the ‘Voyageurs’ drill target was a much harder rock than expected. While our drill plan executed perfectly, our bit stopped short of the full depth we need for sampling.
13 July 2018
Sols 2110-2112: Let the drill fest begin!
Drilling on another planet is no easy feat, and each time we have the opportunity to do so on Mars feels pretty special. The focus of the weekend three-sol plan is to drill the target ‘Voyageurs,’ which is part of an outcrop that shows a high hematite signature in orbital data.
