1 min read

Sol 1496: Successful Drill!

Yesterday’s plan went well and we have a new drill hole on
Mars! The plan for Sol 1496 starts with a ChemCam passive observation of the
dump pile of material from "Quela", our previous drill hole. ChemCam also has
passive observations of the tailings from the new hole at "Sebina", followed by
active observations using the laser. Mastcam then has some observations of the
tailings and dump pile, plus an image to monitor the sand and dust on the rover
deck, and a couple of atmospheric observations. Also in the 1496 plan, the
drill sample from "Sebina" will be dropped off in CheMin, and MAHLI will take
pictures of the drill hole and the CheMin inlet. Overnight, CheMin will analyze
the sample while APXS analyzes the drill tailings. 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