Our short drive over the weekend went well, and we are nowat a new location with plenty of science targets to choose from.
Our short drive over the weekend went well, and we are now
at a new location with plenty of science targets to choose from. It’s been quite
a while since we had a plan with this many new target names! The Sol 1555 plan
starts off with a remote sensing science block. Navcam and Mastcam both have
atmospheric observations, and then ChemCam will analyze four targets: "Somes Sound",
"Schoodic Peninsula", "South Bubble", and "Schooner Head". Mastcam then has a
bunch of mosaics covering the targets "Old Soaker", "Squid Cove", "Sieur de
Monts", "Goat Trail" and "Bald Peak".
Later on Sol 1555, we are planning a short "bump" to
position the rover for possible contact science. After the bump, we’ll collect
some post-drive images to help with targeting. On Sol 1556 Navcam has an
atmospheric observation to watch for clouds, and on Sol 1557 we have a routine
engineering diagnostic activity for the Hazcams, but otherwise Sols 1556 and
1557 are pretty quiet. 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
