23 September 2016

Our drive went nicely and we are already about halfway to our next drill site! Our original plan to head toward an outcrop called “Karasburg” had to be changed because it turned out to be covered in sand and not very steep, making it a less-desirable science target. So instead we are heading toward a location where (we hope) the stratigraphy will be better-exposed.

For this weekend’s plan, we start out on sol 1470 with a Navcam dust devil search and atmospheric observation, plus ChemCam of the targets “Chiagne”, “Chibemba”, and “Chibanda”. Mastcam will document those three targets, as well as the location of the automated ChemCam observation that was collected after yesterday’s drive. Mastcam also has three mosaics: a 6x3 of the Karasburg outcrop, a 4x1 of a location called “Longojo”, and a 5x2 extension of the drive direction mosaic.

On Sol 1471, we will do a wheel checkup with MAHLI and then drive, followed by the usual post-drive imaging. On Sol 1472 we have another AEGIS automated ChemCam observation, a couple of Mastcam atmospheric observations, and ChemCam calibration targets.

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