Sol 1714: Let’s try that again
1 June 2017Unfortunately the Sol 1713 activities were not uplinked due to an issue at the DSN station, so today’s plan is focused on recovering the activities that were planned yesterday. The good news is that we’ll be in the same location for the start of the weekend plan, so… Read More
TKO on Control Network Challenges
31 May 2017The saying, “work smarter not harder,” is exactly what ISIS programmers have in mind for users when challenging the capabilities and limits of tools and technologies while writing the next best app. Computer Scientist, Kris Becker, developed a feature-finding program… Read More
Humans May Adapt Ancestor's Way of Dwelling
23 May 2017When scientists land the US mothership on Mars in the future, where should they go for relief from the elements, atmosphere and radiation? When I last looked at data acquired from Mars Missions, without pareidolia tri-focal lenses on, no billion-year-old hotel exists for use. Space Scientist, Glen… Read More
Can we tell what riches asteroids hold for humans in space?
17 May 2017Until now, asteroid and near-Earth object mining seemed far-fetched but is now transitioning from the realm of science fiction to reality. Three USGS Space Scientists discuss their vision for 2050 including the rationale for Solar System resource assessment and methodology, and essential planetary… Read More
Sol 1691: Stopped Short at Green Nubble
8 May 2017The weekend drive stopped a little bit short of the target, but that’s ok because it put the rover in reach of some interesting cross-bedded rocks. We decided to do a “touch and go” plan for Sol 1691, quickly analyzing the rocks in front of us and then continuing on to… Read More
Sol 1678: A smooth planning day
25 April 2017MSL drove another 33 meters on Sol 1677, and again is surrounded by rocky outcrops partly covered by dark sand. Although Rover Planner support was available for "touch and go" contact science, the GEO science theme group decided that the limited reachable outcrop did not warrant contact… Read More
Change in MSL blogging
24 April 2017Several non-USGS scientists on the MSL operations team have volunteered to start writing blogs, so JPL is now posting all MSL blogs at their site, e.g.,https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/mars-rover-curiosity-mission-updates/?mu=sol-1674-slipping-into-a-new-planPlease monitor the above site for… Read More
Sol 1671: More Rocks Out the Front Window
17 April 2017Today I covered the ChemCam Payload Element Lead (PEL) role for this first Monday after Easter. Normally the ChemCam team starts Mondays with a telephone tag-up as we hand over operations between the French and US portions of the team. We alternate doing ChemCam operations from week to… Read More
Sols 1668-1670: Diving into (analysis of) Moosehead Lake
14 April 2017Our latest drive put us in position in front of the interesting “Moosehead Lake” outcrop with lots of veins and grey patches: plenty to keep Curiosity busy over the weekend! The Sol 1668 plan starts off with a nice long science block. ChemCam has observations of targets “Sheldrake… Read More
Sols 1666-1667: Moosehead Lake
12 April 2017The Sol 1664 drive was halted after the rover had driven less than 2 meters because the angle of the left bogie slightly exceeded the suspension limit. Such limits are routinely set based on the results of detailed modeling of the vehicle's response to the terrain, so that unexpected conditions… Read More
