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The Sol 957 drive went well, and the rover has officially
driven 10 kilometers ! (Last week I announced that we had reached 10k, but
that was 10k measured by how many times the wheels have spun, not how far
across the surface of Mars the rover has gone. Now, no matter how you measure
it, we’ve gone 10,000 meters!).
Unfortunately, we stopped with a ridge in
front of us, blocking the view. So the plan for sol 958 is to do a short drive to
get on top of the ridge so we can see farther to the south, allowing us to plan
more effectively for future drives (and enjoy the scenery). Before the drive,
we have some ChemCam passive observations of the sky to measure the composition
of the atmosphere. There is also a Mastcam mosaic of an outcrop to the east,
plus a high-resolution Mastcam observation of the target "Libby".
After the drive, we will do some standard Navcam and Mastcam
imaging so we can do targeted science in our immediate surroundings, plus a
ChemCam calibration target observation, and a routine Mastcam "clast survey"
image to measure the rocks and pebbles near the rover. by Ryan Anderson -Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL. 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