The activities planned for Sol 1466 are going well so far--the only problem is that the ChemCam observation of the Quela drill hole wall is slightly out offocus.
The activities planned
for Sol 1466 are going well so far–the only problem is that the
ChemCam observation of the Quela drill hole wall is slightly out of
focus.
So we’ll try again on Sol 1467 with slightly modified ChemCam command
parameters. We’re planning two sols today, and our top priority is to
finish up our investigation of the Quela drill hole and tailings before
driving away. There are a lot of measurements
we’d like to make here, so it was a rather busy day for me as SOWG
Chair. After retracting and stowing the arm to allow remote sensing
observations of the Quela area, the Right Mastcam will image the imprint
of the APXS contact sensor in the drill tailings,
to determine exactly where the APXS was placed. Mastcam will also
image the unsieved sample dump pile through all filters and measure the
amount of dust in the atmosphere (a “Mastcam tau”) by imaging the Sun.
Then ChemCam will go to work, acquiring passive
spectra of the dump pile and active LIBS observations of the drill
hole/tailings, a vein target named “Sumbe,” and Goantagab again to look
for changes. The Right Mastcam will then acquire a 5×8 mosaic of the
right side of the butte in front of the rover and
take pictures of the ChemCam targets. Another Mastcam tau is scheduled
late in the afternoon, followed by CheMin and SAM engineering
activities. Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere again on the
morning of Sol 1468, and Navcam will search for clouds
overhead. A ~90-meter drive is planned during the middle of the day,
followed by the usual post-drive imaging to set us up for the next
plan.
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