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Sol 806-808 Update on Curiosity from USGS Scientist Ryan Anderson: Congratulations Rosetta!

On Sol 806, we at the USGS were off for Veteran’s Day, but
Curiosity was still busy! The sol 806 plan had a pretty simple morning science
block with a single Mastcam image of the target "Glendora" along with some
Mastcam and Navcam atmospheric observations. After that, we used the arm to
take close-up images of targets "Ricardo" and "Pelona," and to brush off
Ricardo in preparation for an overnight measurement of its composition using
APXS. The afternoon science block was dedicated to some more atmospheric
observations.

On sol 807, we did some Navcam cloud monitoring over Mount
Sharp, and made some Mastcam observations of targets "Shoemaker", Pelona, and
Ricardo. After that, we drove toward "Pink Cliffs" and then took some Mastcam
and Navcam of our surroundings to look for good locations for more contact
science. Our expected downlink for sol 807 was limited, so we had to be careful
about prioritizing which data came down first.

Of course, while sol 807 planning was happening, the Rosetta
team (including several of our colleagues on Curiosity) was busy making history
by landing on a comet! The pictures that the Philae lander is returning are
just spectacular – congratulations to the European Space Agency!

In Curiosity’s sol 808 plan, we have some more Mastcam and
Navcam atmospheric monitoring and dust-devil searches. There is also a Mastcam mosaic
of "Pink Cliffs" and of targets "Rosamond" and "Fernando." Then the arm will
get a workout: MAHLI will take a picture of the ChemCam window and the REMS UV
sensor, and then Curiosity will brush the dust off of the target Rosamond,
followed by MAHLI images, and several APXS measurements, including an overnight
integration. 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 Ryan Anderson, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center