Sol 732-734 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Multi-sol planning
28 August 2014Yesterday we did not receive as much data as expected, so could not drive as originally planned. Therefore, the Sol 732 plan was dominated by targeted ChemCam and Mastcam observations of "Lippincott," "Hall Canyon," and "Keeler Canyon." Today we received all the data needed to plan… Read More
Sol 731 Update On Curiosity From MSL Scientist Lauren Edgar: Large Crater Ahead
25 August 2014Curiosity is back to driving! We are taking the high road around Hidden Valley to avoid potentially deep ripple fields, and making our way towards a large crater. This image from Sol 729 shows the crater just ahead of us. The Sol 731 plan includes a drive to the rim of the crater and some… Read More
Sol 728 -730 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Driving Again
22 August 2014After much study and discussion, the MSL team decided not to attempt to drill again into the rocks in front of the rover. On Sol 728, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe several nearby targets and the observation tray on the rover. The Sol 729 plan is dominated by the drive, with a single set of… Read More
Sol 727 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Stellar Observations
21 August 2014While we wait for data acquired on Sol 726 to be received later tonight, the Sol 727 plan includes only remote sensing observations. Mastcam and ChemCam will observe both nearby and distant targets during the day, then will attempt to observe some stars after dusk. The goal of the star imaging… Read More
Sol 726 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Busy Uplink
20 August 2014We were hoping that the Sol 726 plan would include full drilling of the Bonanza King target, but the downlink from Sol 724 showed that the mini-drill activity did not complete successfully, probably because the rock moved during drilling. Planning is still restricted, so the Sol 725 plan had not… Read More
Sol 725 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ryan Anderson: Zapping Targets
19 August 2014We are still looking forward to data from sol 724’s mini-drill experiment, and since we don’t have that yet, we can’t do the full drill in the sol 725 plan. So instead, we are doing a remote sensing day on sol 725, which means lots of Mastcam and ChemCam. ChemCam will be zapping four… Read More
Sol 724 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ryan Anderson: Mini-Drill Hole
18 August 2014Everything went well over the weekend, and the drill target seems to be nice and stable, so for the Sol 724 plan, Curiosity will do a “mini-drill” into Bonanza King. This activity is complicated enough that there wasn’t much of a chance to do any science observations other… Read More
Sol 721 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ryan Anderson: Bonanza King
16 August 2014We’re gearing up for our fourth drill hole on Mars! For the sol 721 plan, we have a long block of time dedicated thoroughly analyzing the drill target Bonanza King. During this block, we will analyze 25 points on the target with ChemCam in a 5x5 grid, and follow up with Mastcam images of… Read More
Sol 720 Update on Curiosity from MSL Scientist Lauren Edgar: Looking for Clouds
14 August 2014Today is a restricted sol, so we are planning a number of untargeted observations. Curiosity should have bumped on Sol 719 to put the condensed drilling target Bonanza King in the work volume, and we are waiting for those data to come down. The Sol 720 plan includes a Mastcam and Navcam… Read More
Sol 719 Update on Curiosity from MSL Scientist Lauren Edgar: Second Anniversary Webcast
13 August 2014Curiosity is at the northern end of Hidden Valley, and we are preparing for condensed drilling on the target Bonanza King. Condensed drilling means that we will attempt to acquire a drilled sample with high efficiency – including bumping to the target, characterizing the target, drilling… Read More
