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Curiosity is about to ingress into Amargosa Valley. This Navcam image
from Sol 739 shows some of the beautiful layered rocks that we have
been driving over and analyzing recently. The plan today includes
ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the targets "Timber Mountain,"
"Hunter Mountain" and "Wood Canyon," as well as a Mastcam mosaic of
"Owens Valley," and a long distance ChemCam observation of Pahrump
Hills. The drive today will be short (~12 m) to the edge of the ingress
to Amargosa Valley. At the end of the drive we will acquire better
imaging into the valley to help plan the ingress drive, which will
hopefully occur over the weekend. After the drive on Sol 740, Curiosity
will acquire post-drive imaging for targeting, including Mastcam
imaging of the workspace to prepare for possible contact science over
the weekend, and standard post-drive imaging.
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 Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center