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Sol 303 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Nine Degree Tilt


The approach to Point Lake on Sol 302 went well, allowing the arm to reach the outcrop of interest. However, the rover is tilted over 9 degrees, so we have to wait a sol to confirm that it is stable before planning contact science. Therefore, we could place MAHLI no closer than 10 cm from the outcrop, but such images will still be very useful. So we planned a MAHLI mosaic and individual images of various targets on Point Lake, and hope to receive most of them in time for Sol 304 planning. We can then use them to select targets for higher-resolution MAHLI images and APXS measurements, assuming the rover has not slipped. We also planned a Mastcam mosaic and ChemCam observations of the outcrop.

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