18 April 2016
Sols 1313-1315: Full MAHLI wheel imaging
Tactical planning was a bit hectic today as we reacted to yesterday’s change in the near-term science goals, but the team quickly determined what is feasible and put together a good plan. There are no good brushable targets in the arm workspace, so the DRT will not be used. Rather, we selected 3 targets for MAHLI imaging and APXS measurements of natural surfaces. I’m MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, and have …
16 April 2016
Sol 1312: The best laid plans…
The original plan for today included an ~11 m drive to get closure to a fracture in the Stimson formation. However, during science discussion, the team talked further about how to best sample both altered and unaltered Stimson bedrock, and realized that some of the best places to accomplish the proposed sampling were likely behind us! As a result of this discussion, the drive in today’s plan was pulled at …
14 April 2016
Sol 1311: Take Me To Fracture Town
Today I was on duty as KOP again, but we got to sleep in: we started at 7 am instead of 6:30! Curiosity is in good shape and our drive was successful. In the Sol 1311 plan, we have ChemCam observations of the targets “Garnet Koppie,” “Amspoort,” “Soutrivier,” and “Uubvley.” Garnet Koppie and Amspoort will allow us to compare the composition of a bright fracture halo and the nearby bedrock, …
12 April 2016
Sol 1310: Good morning Mars!
Well, that was an early morning! I was on duty as the KOP today and we started at 6:30 am, so I was up and looking at new pictures of Mars before sunrise. Normally I would not be happy about getting up so early, but I reminded myself this morning that getting to help run a nuclear-powered laser-wielding robot on Mars is worth losing a little bit of sleep every …
11 April 2016
Sol 1309: Curiosity Can’t Catch a Break
We just can’t catch a break lately! Curiosity is healthy but unfortunately the plan for the weekend was not transmitted to Mars due to a Deep Space Network outage. That means that the contact science that was planned for the weekend is lost, but the team decided that it was not important enough for us to delay driving. Today’s plan attempts to at least recover the remote sensing observations before …
10 April 2016
Sols 1307-1308: Deja vu all over again
On Sol 1305, the rover straightened its wheels in preparation for a drive, but then the fault that prevented driving earlier this week occurred again, and the vehicle did not move. The engineers are preparing to send parameter changes that will eliminate mobility actuator sensitivity to the transient power spikes. Fortunately, there are some rocks in front of the rover that are suitable for contact science, so the arm will …
6 April 2016
Sols 1305-1306: Deja vu
Once again, the Sol 1303 drive stopped during wheel steering, apparently due to another short in the RTG. While the power and mobility engineers investigate the fault and ways to respond to them, another drive will be attempted on Sol 1305. The remote science observations made on Sol 1303 went well, so only one ChemCam/Mastcam observation is planned before the Sol 1305 drive, of a rock with interesting surface texture …
4 April 2016
Sols 1303-1304: Driving Again
The Sol 1301 drive halted after only 4.5 meters of progress, apparently due to a short in the RTG that caused a steering actuator fault. This type of fault has occurred before, so we are planning a drive toward the northwest on Sol 1303. Before the drive, lots of remote sensing science is planned, starting with a Right Mastcam mosaic of an outcrop toward the southwest dubbed “Rasthof.” Then ChemCam …
3 April 2016
Sols 1300-1302: Approaching the Edge of the Plateau
Everything went well in Wednesday’s plan, and we are near the edge of the Naukluft plateau, driving across “Stimson” bedrock. The weekend plan begins on Sol 1300 with three ChemCam observations of the bedrock target “Bero” and fracture targets “Iona”, “and “Arco” along with Mastcam documentation. This is followed up by some MAHLI and Mastcam images of Bero before and after brushing off the dust. MAHLI also has some images …
30 March 2016
Sols 1298-1299: Drive cut short
The Sol 1296 drive was halted after only 4 meters of progress because the suspension on the left side of the rover was more tilted than expected. Suspension checks are routinely included in drive sequences, to keep the vehicle safe, and MSL is indeed safe. So the Sol 1298 plan includes a drive to the same location as previously planned. We were also able to squeeze in some pre-drive remote …
