Sols 918-920: Diagnostic testing

More diagnostic data are needed to fully understand the cause of the Sol 911 fault, so no arm activities are planned for this weekend.  The Mastcam thermal characterization will be completed early on Sol 918, while it's still cold.  Another test to diagnose the power issue is planned that afternoon, followed by ChemCam and Mastcam observations of targets dubbed "Ophir" and "Keetley," and a Navcam "movie" to search for clouds over Aeolis Mons ("Mt. Sharp").  On Sol 919, a Mastcam stereo mosaic of "Book Cliffs" will be followed by more ChemCam observations, including another attempt to measure the elemental chemistry of a bright feature in the wall of the "Telegraph Peak" drill hole.  The feature is only a few millimeters long, so is difficult to hit with the laser--previous attempts just barely missed it.  Later in the afternoon, Mastcam will acquire a stereo mosaic of a target called "Brazer."  The only science activities planned for Sol 920 are the usual REMS and RAD observations.

by Ken Herkenhoff

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.