Sol 608 – 609 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Waiting on Post-Drive Data

Sol 608 Planning: The drive and other activities planned for last weekend went well, and lots of nice images of the outcrop in front of the rover were received early Monday morning. While the strategic rover planners analyzed the data and began evaluating various candidate drill targets, the tactical team planned lots of ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the candidates. Later in the day, the rover planners and scientists discussed the drill options, and selected a flat outcrop about 4 meters away, shown in the upper right part of this image .
The goal for Sol 609 will be to bump the rover toward this outcrop, into a position that will allow drilling into it.

Sol 609 Planning: I'm MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, planning Sol 609. After ChemCam observations of targets Jarrad and Cow Bore , the rover will take another set of MAHLI images of the wheels, then bump a couple meters to get into position for contact science and drilling. Planning is restricted, so we won't receive the post-drive data until early Thursday. It was an easy planning day for me, as the end-of-drive MAHLI stowed image and MARDI twilight image have become routine.

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