24 September 2015
Sols 1114-1115: Contact science on Big Sky
The 14-meter Sol 1112 drive completed as planned, and the rover is in a good position for contact science. There are flat areas in front of the rover that are suitable for drilling, so the Sol 1114 plan includes DRT brushing, MAHLI imaging, and APXS measurements of a target named “Big Sky.” Before the arm is deployed, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe Big Sky and “Big Rock.” I’m MAHLI/MARDI uplink …
21 September 2015
Sol 1112-1113: Rough Driving
The drive on Sol 1111 stopped early after just over 15 meters because we were driving over rough terrain and part of the rover’s suspension exceeded the allowed amount of tilt (this is not a physical limit, just a threshold in the software that tells the rover to stop and check with Earth to be safe). The rover is fine and we plan to drive again in the Sol 1112 …
20 September 2015
Sols 1109-1111: Contact Science on Bright Outcrop
The plan for the weekend is to do a detailed analysis of the outcrop in front of us and then drive away and do some untargeted observations. Sol 1109 includes ChemCam observations of the targets “Cody” and “Leroy”, plus a Navcam dust devil search. After that, the rover will brush the dust off of Cody, with MAHLI images before and after. APXS will then analyze the target Ferdig, and then …
17 September 2015
Sol 1108: Limited data for planning
The 16.6-meter drive planned for Sol 1107 completed as planned, placing the rover in front of the bright outcrop of interest. As expected, only a few post-drive images were received in time for Sol 1108 planning, which made it more difficult than usual to pick targets for remote sensing observations and driving. However, we found some bright blocks that the Rover Planners confirmed would be good targets for contact science, …
15 September 2015
Sol 1106: Searching for the Next Drilling Location
After some additional contact science on the Murray formation (of the location shown in the above Mastcam image), we’re now in search of a good sandstone for our next drill target. The goal of today’s plan is to drive towards a bright patch of blocky outcrop that was first identified in orbital images, and to see if this outcrop is an area that we might want to investigate further. Today’s …
14 September 2015
Sol 1105: Murray Formation Contact Science
Over the weekend, Curiosity had a successful ~ 21 m drive, and we’re currently parked in front of a beautiful outcrop of the Murray formation (shown in the bottom half of the above Navcam image, overlain by Stimson). We’ve mostly been driving through the Stimson unit for the past 280 m, so this is a great opportunity to do contact science on the Murray formation to look for any changes …
13 September 2015
Sols 1102-1104: Arm error recovery
The Sol 1101 activities that we planned yesterday did not complete due to an arm error while it was being stowed. Apparently the shoulder azimuth motor was too cold, so the rover software halted the stow, which precluded the drive that was to follow. The rover is therefore in the same position that it was yesterday. I’m not scheduled in any operational role today, but I called in to help …
10 September 2015
Sol 1101: Driving into the Saddle
The 34-meter drive planned for Sol 1100 placed the rover at the edge of the small plateau, as intended, with a good view of a bright Murray Formation outcrop. The center of the Murray outcrop is the target of the drive planned for Sol 1101, which will hopefully put the vehicle in position for contact science over the weekend. Before the drive, ChemCam RMI and Mastcam observations of targets named …
9 September 2015
Sol 1100: Swan, Sunburst, Studhorse, Sweetgrass Arch, and Silver Hill
The rover drove 34.5 meters on Sol 1099, as planned, to a good location for the imaging of the northwest wall of Bridger Basin. The Mastcam team verified that the pointing of the mosaic of that wall, planned to occur early on Sol 1100, is excellent. So the Sol 1100 plan includes another drive, to the southwest edge of the small plateau the rover is on. Before the drive, ChemCam …
8 September 2015
Sol 1099: Driving again
MSL did well over the long weekend, except that the Sol 1098 drive was halted after 13 meters of the planned 25 meters because the rover could not confirm that the path ahead was safe. So the plan for the Sol 1099 drive is essentially to complete the rest of the previously planned drive. The only significant problem I’ve had to grapple with today as SOWG Chair is that the …
