13 March 2016
Sols 1279-1281: Climbing up onto Naukluft Plateau
It’s time to wrap up our investigation of the interesting nodules at the contact between the Murray and Stimson formations and resume driving! The weekend starts off focused mostly on contact science. On Sol 1279, APXS will analyze two neighboring locations on a group of nodules collectively called “Khomas,” and then on Sol 1280 APXS will analyze a third location on Khomas. MAHLI will collect supporting images, and will also …
11 March 2016
Sol 1278: Nodules: Take 2
Our APXS observation of the nodules in yesterday’s plan didn’t go exactly as planned: it was slightly misaligned with the nodule we were trying to analyze, so the measurement was mostly of the neighboring bedrock. That meant planning today started with a discussion of whether the chemistry from ChemCam was sufficient, or if we should spend another day and nail the APXS measurement as well. In the end we decided …
10 March 2016
Sols 1275-1276: Interesting Veins and Textures
The weekend drive went well, and put us in a great location for some contact science, right near the contact between the “Murray” and “Stimson” formations, with some interesting veins and textures in the nearby rocks. Given our nice location, we opted not to do any driving in the Sol 1275 plan and instead study the area in front of us. The Sol 1275 plan started off with a ChemCam …
5 March 2016
Sols 1273-1274: Driving up to the Naukluft Plateau
We are planning only 2 sols today because tactical operations will transition to nominal next week (working all 5 weekdays). On Sol 1273, Mastcam will acquire a multispectral image of the contact between the Murray and Stimson geologic units. This set of images, taken using all of the Mastcam filters, will be acquired just after noon, when the illumination of the contact should be better than in previous images. Then …
2 March 2016
Sols 1271-1272: Remote Sensing and CheMin Analysis
Today’s 2-sol plan is focused on targeted remote sensing, imaging to prepare for contact science, and CheMin analysis of the Gobabeb #6 sample. We’re in a great position on the east side of the Naukluft Plateau, and we’re trying to understand the local stratigraphy and diagenetic features. The first sol includes ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the targets “Uniab” and “Tumas,” followed by imaging of the area in front of …
1 March 2016
Sols 1269-1270: Approaching Naukluft Plateau
Here is Monday’s blog post (can we blame the delay on leap day?). Curiosity is currently making her way toward the Naukluft Plateau, and Monday’s plan was full of driving and remote sensing. On the first sol, Curiosity will acquire ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the target “Swartpunt.” Then we’ll drive toward the Naukluft Plateau, and acquire post-drive imaging to prepare for future targeting and document the Murray formation along …
28 February 2016
Sols 1266-1268: Taking Stock of Stockdale
Today’s plan has a nice mix of science and driving. The rover will start off on Sol 1266 with ChemCam observations of the targets “Ugab,” “Rooibank” and “Stockdale.” We will zap the Rooibank target using two different laser energies to see if that helps us figure out the amount of hydrogen in the target. Afterwards, Mastcam has some documentation images of the ChemCam targets, and then we will do some …
24 February 2016
Sols 1264-1265: Halfway to Naukluft Plateau
We had a successful ~70 meter drive toward the Naukluft plateau, and the drive in today’s plan should put us about halfway to the base of the plateau. The Sol 1264 plan starts with some targeted science: first we have a Mastcam mosaic of the scarp that forms the edge of the plateau, and then ChemCam will analyze the two targets “Awahab” and “Awa Gamteb”. After the targeted science, the …
22 February 2016
Sols 1262-1263: Driving Toward Naukluft Plateau
We’re gearing up for a nice long drive toward the “Naukluft Plateau” in today’s plan! The sol 1262 plan starts off with ChemCam of the bedrock targets “Gemsboktal” and “Ghaub”, with Mastcam documentation. Mastcam will also take a picture of the interesting wind-blown ripples of the target “Hoachanas”. After that, we will drive 70 meters or so to the northwest, stopping on a small ridge. After the drive, the rover …
21 February 2016
Sols 1256-1261: Driving Around the Dune
Apologies for the lateness of this week’s update: The rover is fine, gradually working its way around the north end of a large dune. I’m just an absent-minded blogger with too many other things going on! We started this week on Tuesday with the Sol 1256 plan. This included some long distance ChemCam RMi images of a location on Mt. Sharp that I have been advocating for, plus some small …
