Sols 820-822 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Lauren Edgar: Investigating Alexander Hills

Curiosity is currently investigating the Alexander Hills outcrop.  This Mastcam mosaic from Sol 817 shows some of the interesting rock textures that we’ll study at this location.  With Thanksgiving coming up, the operations team is putting together several multi-sol plans so that the team can take a break over the holiday.  That means that today we’ll plan Sols 820-822, and tomorrow we’ll plan Sols 823-825 to take us through the weekend.  On Sol 820 Curiosity will perform several ChemCam tests to develop ways to focus without using the autofocus laser.  We will also take Mastcam images to document the ChemCam targets, and a Mastcam tau measurement to monitor atmospheric opacity.  On Sol 821 Curiosity will acquire a Mastcam mosaic of the Gilbert Peak and Chinle outcrops, and a Navcam movie to monitor the atmosphere and search for clouds.  The plan also includes ChemCam RMI SkyFlats to measure the “flat field” which will improve our processing of RMI images.  The third sol includes a Mastcam observation of the brushed target “Mescal” using all of the camera filters.  That should keep Curiosity busy while the team takes a well-deserved break! 

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.