29 August 2016

noon

The MSL activities planned for last weekend went well, and the rover's batteries have enough energy to proceed with another drive on Sol 1446. We started the day looking at the beautiful new Mastcam images of the nearby buttes , then got down to planning the details of the 2-sol plan. On Sol 1446, Mastcam will extend coverage of previously-planned mosaics, and ChemCam will use its laser to measure the chemistry of "Muchinda" on a large outcrop block . After the drive, ChemCam will autonomously make another observation using the AEGIS software. Overnight, CheMin will prepare and analyze an empty sample cell in anticipation of a new drill sample. Early on Sol 1447, Mastcam and Navcam will measure the dust in the atmosphere and search for clouds. Most of these observations will be repeated just before localand late in the afternoon to look for short-term changes.