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Sol 1201-1202: Arm Diagnostics

Based on the latest images from Navcam, Hazcam, and Mastcam
it looks like at least some of the "Greenhorn" sample was dumped before the arm
ran into difficulties.The plan for sol 1201 has a lot of diagnostics to help our engineers to better understand what happened with the arm. It is very likely that the arm hardware is OK, but the diagnostics will allow us to avoid this problem in the future.

In addition to arm diagnostics, we still have science to do
in the sol 1201 plan! Mastcam has a 10x2 mosaic to study the fine layers in a nearby
outcrop, and ChemCam has a 2x2 "depth profile" observation of the target
"Matchless_2". For a depth profile, the laser fires 150 times per location
rather than just 30 times, allowing us to see how the composition changes as
the laser removes tiny amounts of material. Mastcam will take an image of
Matchless_2 after the depth profile. On Sol 1202, we have a bunch of change
detection observations of the nearby dune with Mastcam and ChemCam’s RMI.

Since some of the Greenhorn sample was dumped, we want to
get the arm operational again as soon as possible so that the dumped sample can
be analyzed before the martian wind blows it away. We’re hoping that will be
possible in tomorrow’s plan! 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