USGS Astrogeology Science Center Astrogeology News

Sol 277 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Drill, Baby, Drill!

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I was MAHLI uplink lead today, planning 3 sols to get us through the weekend. It was a busy day--lots of MAHLI images were planned, both before and after drilling the Cumberland target. A SAM measurement of the atmosphere and SAM "preconditioning" in anticipation of the second drill sample analysis were also plan, so there wasn't much room for other observations. If all goes well, the sample will be analyzed next week.

Sol 276 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Roving Records

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Because the critical data from yesterday's plan won't be received until around noon Pacific time, MSL tactical planning starts later than usual today. Even though the MSL project made the transition to "Earth time" planning months ago, the schedule is still allowed to shift a few hours when necessary. Meanwhile, Opportunity, on the other side of Mars, sent data in the middle of the night and will receive commands in the afternoon Pacific time. So Opportunity planning is starting earlier than usual (7 AM PDT yesterday). I'm MAHLI uplink lead for MSL again today, but wanted to call in to the Opportunity kickoff meeting this morning to hear the latest. I was rewarded with the news that Opportunity now holds second place among extraterrestrial rovers for total distance traversed, just passing the Apollo 17 lunar rover's record of 35.74 km. First place is still held by the Russian Lunokhod 2 rover, which drove 37 km on the lunar surface. It may be a long work day for me, but operating 2 rovers on Mars is, as they say, "a nice problem to have."

Sol 275 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: On the Cumberland Trail

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

It's good to see that the activities we planned over the weekend went well--the rover is now in position to drill the target "Cumberland." I'm MAHLI payload uplink lead for Sol 275, and helped plan MAHLI images of the potential drill target. These images are intended to confirm that the target is suitable for drilling.

Sol 270 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Planning Three Sols

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Today we planned 3 sols (271-273) in one day for the first time on MSL. I was nervous about leading the science team as SOWG Chair through this challenging planning day, but it went smoothly. In fact, planning Sol 270 yesterday was more hectic, in part because of the variety of activities we squeezed into the plan, including hundreds of MAHLI images and lots of arm motion. There were a number of high-priority science observations we wanted to accomplish before driving away from the first drill hole, and lots of pressure to fit them into the Sol 270 plan so that we can move on to the next drill target, called Cumberland. The Sol 272 plan includes a bump (short drive) designed to move the rover within 1 meter of "Cumberland" and all the imaging needed to plan another bump that will position the rover for drilling.

Sol 269 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: New Software

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I was SOWG Chair today for the first time since the conjunction stand-down. A new version of flight software has been installed on the rover, and many of the Sol 269 activities focused on acquiring images needed to evaluate the precision of camera pointing on the "B" computer running the new software. We also planned Mastcam observations of nearby targets of interest. All is going well, but there is still more analysis to be done before the full capabilities of the rover can be used.

Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Planning Resumes

Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:00 -0700

Both Mars rovers survived conjunction, when they could not be reliably commanded for most of April. Opportunity had some computer issues, but is now back under sequence control and a short drive was planned today. MSL (Curiosity) is healthy and the first post-conjunction tactical planning is today. Before resuming full science operations, a new version of flight software is being loaded onto MSL. It should take the rest of this week to confirm that the software is properly installed.

Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: A Bit of Data

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

For most of April, while Mars is behind the Sun as seen from Earth, no commands are being sent to MSL. Before the start of the solar conjunction stand-down, the rover was programmed to acquire radiation and weather data every day. The Sun interferes with radio waves that pass close to it, but we have received a bit of data anyway, enough to know that the rover is healthy and running the command sequences as planned.

Update on HI-SEAS from USGS Scientist Oleg Abramov: First Week on Mars

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

It’s impossible to fully appreciate something at the moment it’s happening. That’s particularly true for an experience like this. Since we arrived at the HI-SEAS hab, every day has been a whirlwind of activity. For myself, this included setting up and troubleshooting computers and in-hab networking, organizing medical supplies and geology gear, conducting a safety assessment, installing fixtures, participating in inventorying and storing four months worth of food, printing out dozens of labels, unpacking and organizing a dizzying array of devices and appliances, learning to use new equipment, planning our first EVA, reviewing protocols and procedures for the dozen or so studies we’ll be carrying out, and starting work on my personal research, as well as routine activities like cooking, cleaning, and exercising. . . Read more of Oleg's Blog on the HI-SEAS website. . .

USGS Scientist Oleg Abramov Enters a New Habitat

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

USGS Scientist Oleg Abramov officially entered the habitat and began his 120-day space simulation exercise known as HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation). His research will concentrate on thermal modelling and temperature control in a simulated space habitat. Keep posted on his progress by visiting the HI-SEAS website.

Sol 229 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Superior Conjunction

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I'm not scheduled in any tactical operations roles this week, but have been calling into planning meetings for both MSL (Curiosity) and MER (Opportunity). The rovers and other Mars spacecraft are preparing for the upcoming "superior conjunction" of Mars, when the planet will pass behind the Sun as seen from Earth. For a couple weeks around conjunction, it is difficult (or impossible) to communicate with the spacecraft because radio waves are disrupted by plasma in the Sun's atmosphere. So command sequences have been prepared to get the spacecraft through this period safely, without much activity. This week is our last chance to plan additional observations before the conjunction plan kicks in, so we are finishing up the highest-priority science activities on both rovers. On MSL, these include APXS, Mastcam and ChemCam measurements of the first drill sample after it was dumped out of CHIMRA. For MER, we have selected in interested rock target to place the APXS, in order to acquire lots of good data during conjunction.

Sol 227 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Chem Data

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I was MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead again for Sol 227 planning, but again didn't have much to do (just moving images between camera and rover memory). The focus has been on SAM and CheMin analyses of the first drill sample, and they are getting some good data. The rover is operating well on the B computer, and despite some concerns about differences between the A and B sides, ChemCam pointing has been excellent. The laser successfully acquired chemical data on the wall of the first full drill hole!

Sol 226 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: We're Back!

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

At long last, the MSL team has resumed planning science observations! I was MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead on Monday, and although we didn't plan any activities with those cameras, it was good to be involved in tactical operations again. The engineering team is still working to fully understand the Sol 200 anomaly, so we are proceeding carefully, not using the arm yet.

Sol 212 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Nothing to Do

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I'm scheduled as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead again today, but there's nothing for me to do because the engineers at JPL are still working to recover from recent software anomalies. The latest fault was not serious, but delayed the return to nominal science operations. The instruments have been turned on and checked out on the "B" computer, so we are ready to go when the anomaly recovery is completed.

Sol 210 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Clay Minerals

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I'm SOWG Chair again today, but because anomaly recovery continues we are not planning science activities. So I was able to watch the MSL press conference at NASA Headquarters this morning, during which the discovery of clay minerals and possible organic material in the first drill sample was announced. The mineralogy and chemistry of the sample indicates that the environment was more habitable than in other locations on Mars. The water was less acidic than the fluids that formed the sulfate-rich rocks analyzed by the MER rovers, and therefore more conducive to any organisms that may have been there. As pointed out during the press briefing, MSL was never intended to detect life, but has achieved one of the main goals of the mission, to determine whether the ancient environment could have supported life. Because the organic material found by SAM could have been brought from Earth, another drill sample should be acquired and processed to confirm that it is Martian. The first drilling and sample handling should have removed most of whatever terrestrial contamination remains on the drill and other hardware, so future samples should not be contaminated. Of course, the MSL team is very excited about these new results!

Sol 208 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Stay Patient

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0700

I'm scheduled to serve as SOWG Chair today and tomorrow, but we won't be able to plan any new science observations because the recovery from the Sol 200 anomaly is not yet complete. Unfortunately, it appears that we won't resume normal science planning until next week. But the science team recognizes the importance of keeping the rover healthy, and will continue to be patient as the engineers work the problem.