Sols 939-941: Leaving Garden City

Ryan and I are working ChemCam tactical operations again today, planning 3 sols to get MSL through the upcoming weekend.  We therefore focused on planning Sol 939 ChemCam observations of "Live Oak Canyon," "Idyllwild," and "Blanco Mountain."  Mastcam images of these and other targets are also planned before 3 sets of MAHLI images of the wheels.  Two more sets of MAHLI wheel images will be taken on Sol 940 before the rover drives south toward a rock dubbed "Kanosh."  Because less data than normal are expected to be received in time for planning on Monday, extra effort was put into prioritizing various post-drive datasets.  CheMin will perform another mineralogical analysis on the Telegraph Peak drill sample overnight, then Navcam and Mastcam will observe the horizon early on the morning of Sol 941.  We are exploring the use of Mastcam to get high-resolution measurements of dust and ice in the atmosphere.  Later on Sol 941, ChemCam will observe calibration targets on the rover, and SAM will perform an engineering diagnositc activity. 

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.