30 September 2015

Success! Our drill at “Big Sky” went perfectly! On Sol 1121, the rover will transfer some of the powder from Big Sky to CheMin so that it can begin analyzing the mineralogy of the sample. Also on Sol 1121, ChemCam has an observation of the target “Minnekahta”. Mastcam will document the ChemCam location and also take a picture of the location on the ground where Big Sky material will be dumped.

On Sol 1122, ChemCam has observations of targets “Kippen,” “Kalispell,” and “Big Snowies.” Mastcam will document these targets and take a 4x1 mosaic of the lower portion of Mt. Sharp. Navcam will be used to take a movie about the northern rim of Gale crater to search for any clouds.

We are all eagerly looking forward to the CheMin results from Big Sky to compare with our previous results from “Buckskin”!

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.