Planning is no longer restricted, but to ensure that Sol 1127 commandsare ready to be sent to the rover on time, we had to start planning 1.5
Planning is no longer restricted, but to ensure that Sol 1127 commands
are ready to be sent to the rover on time, we had to start planning 1.5 hours earlier than usual this morning. The Sol 1126 images show
that the APXS was well centered over the pre-sieve dump pile, so we are ready to move on. It’s time for a ful l set of
MAHLI wheel images, which dominate the Sol 1127 plan. After the wheel
imaging, there’s just enough time for a short drive to another potential
drill target and post-drive imaging. The volume of data expected to be received in
time for planning tomorrow is smaller than usual, so we had to carefully
consider data priorities. With luck, we’ll receive enough of the
post-drive images to select targets for remote sensing tomorrow
morning. Planning will start at 6:30 PDT again tomorrow, so many of us
will be getting up before dawn, but it’s well worth it to keep the rover
going!
by Ken Herkenhoff
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
