Sol 917: Mastcam Thermal Characterization

I'm MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, but there hasn't been much for me to do because of the restriction on arm activities following last week's fault.  The arm is being used exclusively for diagnostic testing to determine the cause of the fault; test results are being analyzed by the MSL engineering team.  As this work continues, the remote sensing instruments are being used to examine nearby rocks and soils, including ChemCam observations of the drill hole.  More ChemCam observations are planned for Sol 917, plus several Mastcam observations intended to measure the effect of varying temperatures on camera focus.

by Ken Herkenhoff

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.