Our drive on Sol 1346 was successful and brought us to alocation with a view of the rugged ridges of the area we’ve been calling "FractureTown".
Our drive on Sol 1346 was successful and brought us to a
location with a view of the rugged ridges of the area we’ve been calling “Fracture
Town”. In fact, from our current location, we decided that those ridges may be
a bit too rough for comfort, so we are planning a slight change in course that
will take us a bit south of our original path. The new path should be smoother
and will also give us a better view of the contact between the Stimson and
Murray units.
But before we set off on this revised path, we have some
science to do at our current location! On Sol 1348, ChemCam has observations on
the targets “Meob”, “Nomeib”, and “Munutum”. Mastcam will take documentation
images of these targets as well as the one observed by ChemCam using AEGIS
after our last drive. Mastcam will also observe the targets “Hudoab”, “Witputz”,
“Sandamap”, plus a mosaic of Fracture Town. Once the remote sensing is done, we
will brush off the target Meob, taking MAHLI images before and after. MAHLI
will also take some images of the target Nomeib. That will be followed by a
quick APXS observation of Nomeib and an overnight observation on Meob.
On Sol 1349 we have some more targeted science! ChemCam will
observe targets “Annental” and “Nainais”, and in addition to documentation
images of those targets, Mastcam will also do a multispectral observation of
Meob. Navcam has an atmospheric observation as well. After that, the rover will
drive and do standard post-drive imaging, plus a ChemCam AEGIS observation and
a MARDI image of the ground beneath us.
Even though that is only two sols, it will take us through
the weekend, since Saturday is a “soliday” which allows our times to synch back
up with Mars time. 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