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Sol 542 – 543 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Fitting Everything In


I'm SOWG Chair again for another 2-sol plan, and it's been a more hectic planning day. The Sol 540 drive went well, about 71 meters total. A shorter (~23 m) drive is planned for Sol 542, allowing some time for pre-drive targeted Mastcam stereo imaging and MAHLI images of the wheels. Because the volume of data expected to arrive in time for planning on Friday is limited, it was a challenge to prioritize all of the necessary data. Another challenge was including a Mastcam search for frost at sunrise on Sol 543 without depleting the battery too much. In the end, we got everything to fit, plus a bunch of untargeted ChemCam and Mastcam observations later on Sol 543.

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