Sol 1534: Preparing to drill

Curiosity had a productive Thanksgiving weekend and now we are getting ready to drill at “Precipice.”  Sol 1534 begins with MAHLI imaging of the post-sieve dump pile from the previous drill sample (“Sebina”).  Then we have a short science block to acquire a ChemCam passive observation and a Mastcam multispectral observation of the dump pile.  In the afternoon the plan includes a CHIMRA “thwack” activity to clean out any remnants of the previous sample in order to prepare for a new one.  Later in the afternoon we’ll also take a ChemCam long distance RMI mosaic to investigate a linear feature observed from HiRISE.  The full drill hole is planned for Sol 1536.

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.