Sol 819 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Late planning

The difficult 35-meter drive planned for Sol 817 went perfectly, placing the rover in position for arm activities on the Alexander Hills outcrop.  We also received good news from ChemCam:  test images acquired on Sol 816 showed that the instrument can still acquire data without using the autofocus laser.  More ChemCam tests were planned today.  Sol 819 planning started 3 hours later than usual, giving me extra time to prepare for my MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead shift this morning.  We had lots of interesting rocks to choose from, and decided to brush a target dubbed "Mescal."  After taking MAHLI images, the APXS will be placed on the same target for a long overnight integration to measure its elemental chemistry.  We also planned MAHLI images of targets "Puente" and "Cajon," as well as Mastcam mosaics including these and other targets of interest.

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.