Sols 1630-1631: Early Morning Planning
7 March 2017We had an early-morning (6 AM on the west coast!) start to planning today, which was a bit painful but with the help of lots of caffeine we put together another plan full of good science! The exciting news from the weekend plan is that the MAHLI dust cover closed as planned, so we’re back in… Read More
Sols 1627-1629: Driving again
3 March 2017Good news: the MAHLI cover was successfully opened and the instrument is marked healthy again. That means it’s time to close the cover, and if that’s successful, drive away toward the next stop in the Bagnold Dunes Campaign. I was the GSTL again and it was a pretty straightforward… Read More
Names Approved for Eight Labyrinthi on Titan
2 March 2017The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved names for eight features on Titan: Tleilax Labyrinthus, Anbus Labyrinthus, Kronin Labyrinthus, Grumman Labyrinthus, Lankiveil Labyrinthus, Junction Labyrinthus, Gamont Labyrinthus, and Ginaz Labyrinthus. For more information, see… Read More
Sols 1625-1626: Change detection and additional remote sensing
1 March 2017We’re still at the second stop of the Bagnold Dune campaign, running a few more MAHLI diagnostics and focusing on targeted remote sensing. I was the GSTL today and it was still a pretty busy day for the GEO theme group. The first sol includes a ChemCam observation of a ripple… Read More
Sols 1623-1624: MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing
27 February 2017Today’s two-sol plan is devoted to MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing. It’s another late slide sol, so planning started three and half hours later than usual. The plan kicks off with arm activities to better understand the fault that MAHLI experienced last week. Then… Read More
Themes Approved for the Pluto System
27 February 2017The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved revised themes for Pluto and Charon. Themes for the four smaller moons, Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra remain unchanged. For more information, see the Categories page in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature or the IAU press… Read More
Sols 1620-1622: A weekend full of remote sensing
24 February 2017On Sol 1619, MAHLI experienced a fault and did not finish its planned imaging, so unfortunately the subsequent arm and mobility activities did not execute. That means that the weekend plan is devoted to MAHLI recovery activities and a lot of remote sensing. I was the GSTL today, and… Read More
Sol 1619: Wrapping up dune stop #2
24 February 2017We are wrapping up our observations at stop #2 of the second Bagnold dunes campaign. In the Sol 1619 plan, we start off with Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by a ChemCam observation of the sandy target “Leighton”. Mastcam will then document Leighton and… Read More
Sol 1618: A second stop at the dunes
22 February 2017The drive on Sol 1617 went well, and Curiosity drove 20 m to the south, which put us in a good position for another stop at the Bagnold Dunes. This site was selected to enable comparison of the leading and trailing edges of the dunes. Today’s plan includes ChemCam observations of… Read More
Sol 1617: Re-attempt the drive
21 February 2017The drive planned for Sol 1616 halted early, apparently because the right rear wheel got stuck between two rocks. The mobility team concluded that it is safe to continue, so the drive planned for Sol 1617 is essentially the same as the previously-planned drive. Before the drive,… Read More
