Sols 1334-1336: Successful drilling at Okoruso

6 May 2016

Meet the latest drill hole on Mars: “Okoruso,” created on Sol 1332, seen in the above MAHLI image. Drilling activities went well on Sol 1332, so the weekend plan is focused on sieving the sample and dropping it off to CheMin for analysis. The plan starts with a short science block to acquire a ChemCam RMI image of the drill hole, and Mastcam stereo imaging of the pre-sieve dump location. Then the “Okoruso” drill sample will be transferred and sieved and delivered to CheMin for analysis overnight. The second sol includes ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the targets “Natas” and “Langental” to investigate variations in chemistry through the stratigraphy. The third sol has an early morning science block full of ChemCam, Navcam, and Mastcam observations to monitor the composition and opacity of the, atmosphere and search for clouds. In the afternoon we’ll use ChemCam to study the drill tailings and a freshly broken rock, followed by some repeated atmospheric observations.

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.