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Sol 710 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Deep Tracks


The Sol 709 drive was not as long as planned because the minimum 2 meters of progress out of 4.5 meters commanded was not achieved. This software check may be disabled for future drives across sandy material, to allow more slippage before the rover stops driving. The Sol 710 plan includes Mastcam mosaics of the walls of the valley the rover is in, and a ChemCam observation of a target dubbed Desert Range near the right edge of the rover track seen here . Then the rover will drive a few meters back along its tracks and take the standard post-drive data. I was MARDI/MAHLI uplink lead today, and helped plan some ChemCam RMI calibration observations as well.


Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

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