14 October 2015
Sol 1133: Dump and “Thwack”
Sol 1133 activities are dominated by dumping the “Big Sky” sample and “thwacking” CHIMRA (the Collection and Handling for in-Situ Martian Rock Analysis) to clean out any remnants of the sample. We have to do this in preparation for the next drill sample, which will likely be the “Greenhorn” target in tomorrow’s plan. In addition to these arm activities, today’s plan includes several ChemCam and Mastcam observations of “Greenhorn” and …
13 October 2015
Sol 1132: Dumping Big Sky sample
Columbus Day is a federal holiday, but I’m scheduled as SOWG Chair tomorrow so I’m following Sol 1132 tactical planning and discussions of our goals for Sol 1133. The SAM analysis of the Big Sky drill sample went well and there is no need for another analysis, so the rest of the sample will be dumped out of CHIMRA on Sol 1132. MAHLI will take pictures of the dump target …
10 October 2015
Sol 1128: Twenty Minutes to Mars
I got up before dawn again today, and was treated to a beautiful view of the crescent Moon, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter in the eastern sky. I hadn’t seen Mars since it emerged from behind the Sun following solar conjunction last June (it was cloudy yesterday morning), and its dimness reminded me of how far away Mars is right now: 351 million kilometers or 218 million miles. It takes 20 …
9 October 2015
Sols 1129-1131: Assessing “Greenhorn”
Curiosity is currently investigating an alteration zone around a fracture. After a successful drilling investigation at “Big Sky,” Curiosity is now ready to evaluate the alteration zone at “Greenhorn” for comparison. The weekend plan is a busy one. The first sol is focused on SAM activities, to prepare a cup to receive the “Big Sky” drill sample, and then to drop off the sample. On the second sol Curiosity will …
7 October 2015
Sol 1127: Full MAHLI wheel imaging and bump
Planning is no longer restricted, but to ensure that Sol 1127 commands are ready to be sent to the rover on time, we had to start planning 1.5 hours earlier than usual this morning. The Sol 1126 images show that the APXS was well centered over the pre-sieve dump pile, so we are ready to move on. It’s time for a full set of MAHLI wheel images, which dominate the …
5 October 2015
Sol 1126: MAHLI selfie
The Mars Science Laboratory did well last weekend, but the Sol 1124 MAHLI images of the unsieved part of the drill sample showed that the APXS was not perfectly centered on the dump pile. Therefore, the Sol 1126 plan includes new MAHLI images and APXS measurements, better centered on the dump pile. Before the arm activities, ChemCam will acquire passive spectra of part of Mt. Sharp, a 5×1 LIBS raster …
4 October 2015
Sols 1123-1125: Drill hole and tailings
This composite image looking toward the higher regions of Mount Sharp was taken on September 9, 2015, by NASA’s Curiosity rover. In the foreground — about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from the rover — is a long ridge teeming with hematite, an iron oxide. Just beyond is an undulating plain rich in clay minerals. And just beyond that are a multitude of rounded buttes, all high in sulfate minerals. The …
1 October 2015
Sol 1121-1122: Successful Drill at Big Sky
Success! Our drill at “Big Sky” went perfectly! On Sol 1121, the rover will transfer some of the powder from Big Sky to CheMin so that it can begin analyzing the mineralogy of the sample. Also on Sol 1121, ChemCam has an observation of the target “Minnekahta”. Mastcam will document the ChemCam location and also take a picture of the location on the ground where Big Sky material will be …
28 September 2015
Sol 1119-1120: "Go" for full drill at Big Sky!
As you can see, our mini-drill over the weekend went well, so we are GO for drilling “Big Sky” on sol 1119! The hope is that this location will provide a good sample of the “typical” rock in the area to compare with some of the interesting alteration we’ve been seeing. Along with the drilling, there will be a bunch of MAHLI documentation images of the hole from varying distances …
27 September 2015
Sols 1116-1118: Small drill, Big Sky
It’s time to drill again! After much deliberation, we have decided to try drilling the target “Big Sky” at our current location, in hopes of getting a good sample of relatively unaltered bedrock to compare with some of the altered rocks we have seen nearby. Sol 1116 is dedicated to doing the mini-start hole, which is how we test if the rock is safe to drill. MAHLI will take documentation …
