The initial reconnaissance of the PahrumpHills outcrop is complete, and the 53-meter Sol 797 drive successfullyplaced the rover near the ripples of interest.
The initial reconnaissance of the Pahrump
Hills outcrop is complete, and the 53-meter Sol 797 drive successfully
placed the rover near the ripples of interest.
So the Sol 799 plan includes a short drive into the ripples and
"scuffing" of a 15-cm high ripple to examine its interior. Some of the Pahrump "walkabout" data have not yet been received
from the rover, so we decided to limit the acquisition
of new data on Sols 799 and 800 to allow more of the walkabout data to
be returned. Before the Sol 799 drive and scuff, ChemCam and Mastcam
will observe a bright outcrop named "Hackberry Spring." Then CheMin
will add more mineralogical data for the Confidence
Hill drill sample by integrating overnight and into Sol 800. I'm SOWG
Chair today, and happy to see the prediction that the rest of the
Pahrump walkabout data will be received by Sol 801.
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
