Sol 1060: GO for drilling!

30 July 2015





It’s another exciting day on Mars! Curiosity is investigating some high-silica targets at an outcrop named “Lion.” The team selected the “Buckskin” target to drill, and we successfully completed a mini drilling test yesterday (shown in the above MAHLI image). That means that today we’re going for the FULL drill hole.

Today’s plan is focused on the drilling activity, and a lot of imaging to document the hole. First we’ll acquire MAHLI images of the intended drill site, then we’ll drill, and then we’ll acquire more MAHLI images after drilling. The plan also includes Navcam imaging of the workspace, and Mastcam imaging of the target and drill bit. In addition to drilling, we’re getting CheMin ready to receive sample in an upcoming plan. Fingers crossed!

By Lauren Edgar

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