Sols 1504-1506: A "Wonderland" of Interesting Targets

28 October 2016

It’s Friday, so that means we have another busy weekend plan! Our 37 meter drive yesterday brought us to a very interesting location with lots of targets to choose from in front of the rover. The weekend plan starts off on Sol 1504 with ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the veins “Cedar Swamp” and “Cadillac Mountain.” After that the arm will reach out and MAHLI will observe the target “Wonderland” and APXS will analyze several locations on the target “Thrumcap”.

On Sol 1505, Mastcam will begin a series of change detection observations of a location called “The Beehive”. Mastcam will also do some multispectral observations of the targets “Thrumcap” and “Egg Rock”. ChemCam has a calibration observation, followed by a long distance RMI observation of Mt. Sharp that I requested. ChemCam also will analyze the interesting dark rock “Egg Rock” and a possible alteration halo at “Upper Hadlock.” Mastcam will continue periodically observing “The Beehive” throughout Sol 1505 and into the morning of 1506. Then around midday on Sol 1506, Curiosity will drive and collect post-drive imaging for Monday.

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