Sols 1552-1554: Diagnostics, science, and a drive
16 December 2016The engineering team is still hard at work diagnosing our drill issues, but in the meantime we are still getting good science done. The Sol 1552 plan starts off with ChemCam observations of the targets “Hall Quarry” and “Long Porcupine”. Mastcam will document those targets… Read More
Sols 1550-1551: More drill testing
14 December 2016Use of the arm and driving remain off limits while the drill continues to be diagnosed. The 2-sol plan starts with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of bright vein targets dubbed "Bear Brook" and "Canon Brook." MARDI will take images during both morning and evening… Read More
Sols 1548-1549: Still at Precipice
12 December 2016Unfortunately, one of the drill diagnostics early in the plan indicated a problem, which prevented most of the other activities for the weekend (including the arm motion and drive) from happening. So that means that for the Sol 1548-1549 plan the rover is still sitting at Precipice. In addition to… Read More
Sols 1545-1547: Moving again!
9 December 2016This morning we received downlink that indicated operation of the drill feed using standard commands. This is great news, and the anomaly response team has cleared the rover for use of the arm and driving (but not yet drilling). In today’s plan, we’ll wrap up work at the… Read More
Sol 1544: Diagnostics and Remote Sensing
8 December 2016The plan for Sol 1544 includes remote sensing and additional diagnostics to resolve the drill feed fault. The plan starts with a Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere. Then we’ll acquire ChemCam observations of “Aunt Betty… Read More
Sol 1543: Motor controller fault
7 December 2016The Sol 1542 drill diagnostics did not complete as intended, and as a consequence, neither did some of the later science activities. Therefore, those tests and activities from Sol 1542 will be planned again on Sol 1543. But first, ChemCam will shoot its laser at a target near… Read More
Sol 1542: More drill testing
6 December 2016While investigation of the drill anomaly continues, more diagnostic tests will be performed on Sol 1542. Again, no mobility or other arm activities will be planned, so the science team added only remote sensing observations. ChemCam will observe Hunters Beach again to further… Read More
Sol 1541: Change detection
5 December 2016The weekend plan returned some great remote sensing data, including the above Mastcam image of "Ireson Hill" to investigate the stratigraphy exposed in a distant butte. While we work on assessing the drill fault, the team decided to devote today’s plan to remote sensing and change… Read More
Sols 1538-1540: Targeted Remote Sensing
2 December 2016The RPs are going to take a little more time to diagnose the drill fault before we drive or use the arm again, so today’s plan is focused on targeted remote sensing. We’re still at the “Precipice” site, assessing the composition and sedimentary structures in the Murray… Read More
Sol 1537: Drill fault
1 December 2016Unfortunately, the much-anticipated rotary-only drilling experiment did not even start due to a drill fault that is currently being investigated. This type of drill fault appears to be unrelated to the previous short circuits during percussion, but more study is needed. So the… Read More
