Sol 1544: Diagnostics and Remote Sensing

8 December 2016

Sol 1542 Mastcam

The 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 Pond” and “Kebo Mountain” to assess the composition of the Murray bedrock and veins.  In the afternoon we’ll repeat the Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observations.  We’ll also take a few more rear Hazcam images to monitor the movement of fines at different times of day.  For more on the drill feed anomaly and our steps to resolve the issue, check out this recent press release.  In the meantime, the science team is getting ready for the American Geophysical Union conference next week, so we had some great science discussion presentations that will be shared at the meeting next week!

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.