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Sol 49 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: 42 Meters!

Today I served as the leader of the Geology Science Theme Group, which was fun because I had never done it before. The Sol 48 drive set a new record for MSL: 42 meters! We also heard the good news that APXS acquired high-quality data in only 12 minutes, during the middle of the day when the instrument was warmer that preferred. We also enjoyed the new MAHLI images of " Jake Matijevic ". So there was a lot of applause during our kickoff meeting today. The Sol 49 plan included another drive toward Glenelg, so we added some Mastcam and ChemCam observations of targets near the rover before the drive. We also planned Navcam and Mastcam panoramas after the drive, to document the area around the rover and allow more close-up observations on Sol 50.

Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center