Sols 1586-1588: ChemCam sick

20 January 2017

MSL drove another 13 meters on Sol 1585, again placing the rover in a good position for contact science. But the telemetry also showed that ChemCam had been marked "sick," so we will not be able to use ChemCam this weekend while the problem is diagnosed. The weekend plan is still pretty full, though! First, on Sol 1586, Right Mastcam will acquire small mosaics of nearby rocks named "Bell Brook," "Blind Brook," and "Beck Pond," then Left Mastcam will take another image of the rover deck to look for changes in the dust and sand on the deck. The rover will rest until late that afternoon, when the illumination will be good for MAHLI imaging. MAHLI will take a single image before the DRT is used to brush off a bedrock target dubbed "Belle Lake," then take a full suite of images (plus extra stereo images) of the brushed spot. MAHLI will also acquire a full suite of images of another bedrock target called "Bluffer Pond" before the APXS is placed on the same target for a short integration. Just before midnight , the APXS will be placed on Belle Lake for a longer integration. On Sol 1587, the arm will be retracted and stowed to allow Mastcam to acquire a full multispectral set of images of Belle Lake. Navcam will search for dust devils before the next drive. In addition to the standard post-drive activities, the arm will be unstowed to allow Navcam to take stereo images of the new arm workspace. MARDI will take images during twilight on Sols 1587 and 1588 to look for any changes due to winds. Navcam will again search for dust devils on Sol 1588, and CheMin will perform some maintenance activities overnight.





by Ken Herkenhoff