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Today we planned 3 sols (271-273) in one day for the first time on MSL. I was nervous about leading the science team as SOWG Chair through this challenging planning day, but it went smoothly. In fact, planning Sol 270 yesterday was more hectic, in part because of the variety of activities we squeezed into the plan, including hundreds of MAHLI images and lots of arm motion. There were a number of high-priority science observations we wanted to accomplish before driving away from the first drill hole, and lots of pressure to fit them into the Sol 270 plan so that we can move on to the next drill target, called Cumberland . The Sol 272 plan includes a bump (short drive) designed to move the rover within 1 meter of "Cumberland" and all the imaging needed to plan another bump that will position the rover for drilling.
Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center