28 September 2016
Sols 1475-1476: Finishing up on Jwaneng
Finally, the rover will get some sleep in preparation for what will likely be a busy weekend.
27 September 2016
Sol 1474: Murray cross-bedding
The 16-meter drive on Sol 1473 completed perfectly, placing the rover in position for contact science on an outcrop of cross-bedded Murray bedrock. The primary goal for Sol 1474 is to characterize the cross-bedding and measure grain sizes using MAHLI, and we were able to squeeze in a lot of other good observations. Before the arm is deployed, ChemCam will measure the chemical composition of the “Kopong” bedrock target, Mastcam …
26 September 2016
Sol 1473: In search of a contact science location
Over the weekend Curiosity drove 43 m to the south, in search of a good place for contact science. Unfortunately, our present location is in a small valley, and we don’t have many good rock targets in the workspace. After evaluating the Mastcam drive direction imaging, we decided to drive further to the southwest. This should put us in front of a small exposure of cross-bedding for contact science in …
25 September 2016
Sol 1470-1472: Change of Plans
Our drive went nicely and we are already about halfway to our next drill site! Our original plan to head toward an outcrop called “Karasburg” had to be changed because it turned out to be covered in sand and not very steep, making it a less-desirable science target. So instead we are heading toward a location where (we hope) the stratigraphy will be better-exposed. For this weekend’s plan, we start …
22 September 2016
Sol 1469: Leaving Murray Buttes
MSL drove over 87 meters on Sol 1468, toward an outcrop named “Karasburg.” The Sol 1469 plan includes another drive toward Karasburg, after ChemCam and Mastcam sample a local bedrock target named “Cacolo” and a patch of brighter material dubbed “Malembo.” Mastcam will also acquire mosaics of the Karasburg area both before and after the drive. Following the typical post-drive activities, AEGIS will again be used to autonomously select a …
21 September 2016
Sols 1467-1468: Finishing up at Quela
The activities planned for Sol 1466 are going well so far–the only problem is that the ChemCam observation of the Quela drill hole wall is slightly out of focus. So we’ll try again on Sol 1467 with slightly modified ChemCam command parameters. We’re planning two sols today, and our top priority is to finish up our investigation of the Quela drill hole and tailings before driving away. There are a …
19 September 2016
Sol 1466: A new drill hole
The second attempt to drill into Quela was successful, but there was a timing issue during sample manipulation in CHIMRA that resulted in premature halting of the Sol 1465 sequence. So on Sol 1466 we’ll pick up where MSL stopped and sieve the new sample, dump the unsieved fraction, and drop some of the sieved sample into CheMin. But first, ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of the Quela drill tailings …
16 September 2016
Sol 1462: Drill Troubleshooting and Remote Sensing
Unfortunately the Sol 1461 drilling activities did not complete as expected, so the Sol 1462 plan was focused on trying to understand the problem while also doing some remote sensing. The plan starts off with Mastcam multispectral observations of the target “Ekunha” on the nearby butte. ChemCam will analyze the targets “Cuasa” and “Cuimba,” and then Mastcam will document those targets and take an 8×3 mosaic of the butte, along …
14 September 2016
Sol 1461: Time to drill
It’s always an exciting day on Mars when you prepare to drill another sample – an engineering feat that we’ve become so accustomed to that I sometimes forget how impressive this really is! Today’s plan just looks like a “typical” drill sol. First we’ll image the intended drill target with MAHLI, then we’ll do a full drill of the target “Quela”, followed by more documentation imaging with MAHLI. We’ll also …
13 September 2016
Sol 1460: Preparing to drill
Yesterday was sol 2 of the drill campaign at “Quela” and we did a lot of great remote sensing, contact science and wheel imaging (see the above RMI image showing fine lamination in some pebbles, and the MAHLI image of the wheels to monitor their health). Today’s plan includes a science block and cross-contamination experiment to prepare for the drill sample. Science activities include a Mastcam multispectral observation of a …
