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The 4-sol plan over the holiday weekend went well, and Curiosity drove ~40 m to the south. We’re currently just to the east of a butte that we’re planning to approach as our next potential drill site.
Today’s 1-sol plan is a busy one. We’ll start with MAHLI imaging of the target "Eheke," to characterize the local bedrock. Then we’ll use Mastcam and Navcam to assess atmospheric opacity, followed by ChemCam observations of the targets "Diyogha," and "Donkerbos." We’ll also acquire a Mastcam mosaic of the "Karasburg" area to observe the contact between the Murray and Stimson formations, and another mosaic to document the stratigraphy in the buttes. Then we’ll drive to start approaching the next drill site. After the drive we’ll take post-drive imaging for context and targeting. Tomorrow is a soliday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up), and then we’ll resume with an early slide sol on Thursday.
By Lauren Edgar
--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.
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 Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center