Sols 1075-1077: Time for SAM!

We had another successful drive on sol 1074, putting us in a
good position for the weekend! The main activity for the weekend is using the
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument to analyze some of the recent drill
sample that we collected. SAM activities will take up all of sol 1075. On sol
1076, we will use MAHLI to check on the health of our wheels, and SAM will do
its Evolved Gas Analysis (EGA) measurement on the sample.

On sol 1077 we have lots of ChemCam and Mastcam activities.
Mastcam has a 20x2 mosaic of an area called "Fournier", followed by ChemCam
observations of the targets "Butler", "Evaro", "Coldwater", and "Alberton" and
associated Mastcam documentation images. Navcam also has an atmosphere
monitoring observation of the horizon to the north.

Later in the afternoon on sol 1077, ChemCam has a
calibration observation and Mastcam has another observation of "Alberton" to
try to see textures highlighted by the lower sun angle. Navcam also has a
couple more observations, watching for clouds and dust devils. 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