Sols 2163-2164 update by Lucy Thompson: Things that go Bump… (5 September 2018)

In our case, the Curiosity rover! The main focus of our 2-sol (sol - martian day) plan today is to bump (drive ~15 m) the rover into place for an attempt at drilling an interesting grey coloured patch of bedrock, identified from orbit within the Jura member of the Murray formation on the Vera Rubin Ridge, referred to as "Loch Eriboll." We want to figure out how these patches of bedrock differ from the surrounding tan coloured rocks, more typical of what we see from orbit.

We had the potential to do a "touch and go" in the plan, whereby we would unstow the arm and use the APXS and MAHLI instruments to examine the chemistry and texture of a target close-up, before driving away. However, the workspace consists of a lot of broken up, smaller pieces of rock and we already have a lot of compositional and textural information of similar rocks. The ability to use the arm is instead being utilized to acquire MAHLI close-up imaging of the REMS UV sensor. This is requested periodically to check for dust and the general health of the sensor.

We decided to concentrate our efforts on the bump and some remote science observations using instruments situated on the rover's mast. We selected 4 bedrock targets for investigation with ChemCam ("The Law," "Eathie," "The Minch" and "Windy Hills"), to monitor compositional variation, accompanied by Mastcam documentation of those targets. Mastcam mosaics are being acquired of the "Laithach" area where we observe a potential contact between the grey and tan rocks, and the "Loch Eriboll" area, which will include multiple filters to look at the spectral properties of the different rocks. We then bump to our potential drill location followed by imaging of the new workspace and a 20 minute DAN Active measurement.

Post-drive, there are two untargeted ChemCam AEGIS activities to look at bedrock composition, standard REMS and DAN passive, Navcam imaging to monitor the atmosphere/environment, CheMin vibe and dump sample (after X-ray diffraction on the previously drilled "Stoer" material), MARDI (used to document the ground immediately beneath the rover wheels) and SAM Electrical Baseline Test (to periodically monitor SAM's electrical functions).

A busy 2-sol plan to hopefully set us up to drill in the weekend plan!

Sol 2165 - 2167 update by Sean Czarnecki: It always looks grayer on the other side! (10 September 2018)

Curiosity's last plan didn't quite get our intrepid rover close enough to our next potential drill location in the gray bedrock that is visually distinct on this part of Vera Rubin Ridge. This weekend's plan was intended to be "Drill Sol 1," but since it would require at least another short drive to drill, the team decided to choose another target a little further away that will provide a better science return. So the weekend plan now includes a short drive to our new drill target.

Before we drive, ChemCam will measure the chemistry of the targets "Great Bernera," "Great Glen," and "Great Todday;" Mastcam will take images of these same targets including a multispectral observation of Great Todday; and APXS will measure the chemistry of targets "Trollochy," "Burn O Vat," and "Portobello." These observations are intended to document the compositional diversity of the gray and red bedrock at this location by documenting the transition from gray to red.

In addition, the DAN instrument will make a total of 60 minutes of active measurements before the drive. DAN active experiments emit neutrons that interact with the subsurface and then measure the time-of-flight and energy of neutrons that return to the rover. These data allow us to interpret compositional layering and abundances of water bound in minerals in the martian subsurface.

Following our drive, ChemCam has two more sets of chemical measurements on AEGIS targets, APXS will measure the argon abundance in the martian atmosphere, and DAN will take another standard active measurement. Also in the plan are standard DAN passive and environmental monitoring activities with the REMS, RAD, Mastcam, and Navcam instruments.

It's a weekend packed full of science to set up our next drill campaign!

Sols 2168-2169 update by Kristen Bennett: Starting the drill campaign at "Inverness" (11 September 2018)

In the weekend plan Curiosity drove to an area that the team thought would be a good location for the next drill site on Vera Rubin Ridge. The drive was a success, and there is a block named "Inverness" in the center of the workspace that was selected to be the next drill target.

The 2-sol plan focuses on characterizing Inverness in preparation for the drill campaign. This includes removing dust from the surface of the rock with the DRT, as well as taking MAHLI images, APXS measurements, a ChemCam LIBS observation, and a Mastcam multispectral observation of Inverness.

In addition to all of the measurements of Inverness, Curiosity will begin taking change detection images. The rover will be sitting in one spot for some time during the drill campaign, so this is a good opportunity to see if any of the sand around Curiosity is being moved around by the wind. In the current plan this includes a MARDI twilight image and Mastcam images of "Sandend" and "Skene."

But wait! There's more! This plan also includes a Mastcam image of the target "Stoneyburn," a Navcam dust devil survey, and MAHLI night time images of the CheMin inlet.

This full 2-sol plan will set Curiosity up to start drilling into the next target on Vera Rubin Ridge later this week. Just another day planning to put holes in rocks on Mars!

Sols 2170-2171 update by Catherine O’Connell: Go for Drill at Inverness! (13 September 2018)

In our previous plan, we assessed the suitability of the Inverness target for drilling. We used APXS to determine if it fell within the required geochemical parameters, first brushing to remove excess dust and then using curium to irradiate the target and acquire whole-rock geochemical data. Curiosity also did a series of "stress tests" to test the integrity of the target, and check whether it would be strong enough to withstand our percussive drill technique without shattering. At the beginning of today's planning, we received data which confirmed that Inverness had passed our tests. Drilling begins tomorrow (sol 2170) on what will hopefully be our 18thsuccessful drill hole in Gale crater!

If successful, the resulting sample will be processed internally by CheMin (to assess mineralogical composition) and possibly SAM (to look for chemical signatures). The remaining collected drill sample will be dumped at a later date, so MAHLI will take imagery of potential dump locations on sol 2170 to help with later analysis. A pile of "tailings" will also be generated around the drill hole by the drilling activity. These tailings will be analyzed by ChemCam, APXS and MAHLI in the coming weeks - Mastcam will acquire images of the drill-hole and multispectral images on the tailings on sol 2171.

Today's 2-sol plan included three ChemCam LIBS targets on sol 2171 on an interesting network of veins and diagenetic features, revealed in the MAHLI image of the brushed Inverness target (shown above). "Pentland" (to the left of the image) consists of large veins. "Black Isle" is a grey, raised, nodular feature, in the right of the image, whilst "Grange" is a white patch, just below the brushed area. These targets will also help us look for variations across the Inverness block. All three targets will be imaged using Mastcam.

Although the plan is packed with drill related activities, we still fit in environmental monitoring activities, such as the Mastcam tau (to determine the amount of dust in the atmospheric column), standard DAN and REMS activities, and continuing Mastcam change detection of the targets Sandend and Skene (looking for evidence of grain movement, wind directions and strength).

Although drill campaigns can take up to two weeks to complete, we are starting to look ahead, thinking of our next potential drill site. Mastcam multispectral images taken on sol 2171 will be used to help us decide which direction to head in next!

Sols 2172-2174 update by Vivian Sun: Who'd Have Thought That Ridge Rocks Could Be So Hard (17 September 2018)

Last night we learned that our drill attempt on "Inverness" was not successful, reaching only 4 mm into the rock. Today's tactical team bounced back from this news and quickly assembled a plan to move on. This proved to be a busy day for the whole team, including me as the Geology Keeper of the Plan!

Our first order of business was discussing where to drive next. The grey Jura member is a top priority for sampling and understanding the geologic history of the Vera Rubin Ridge, so we felt it was imperative to try again. We ultimately decided to return to the "Lake Orcadie" region, where we previously attempted to drill on Sol 1977. In the past attempt, we were able to reach 10 mm depth using rotary only, so we are hopeful that this next attempt will reach sampling depths with the new percussion-enhanced drill capabilities.

Before driving off, we wrapped up at the Inverness site with APXS and ChemCam spectral measurements to characterize the composition of the drill tailings and the mini drill hole. We additionally targeted "Clune," a grey Jura bedrock, with ChemCam to continue our documentation of compositional heterogeneities in bedrock. Some science team members also identified two possible meteorite targets, so we obtained a ChemCam measurement of "Stoneyburn" and a Mastcam multispectral observation of "Rockend" to see if they have meteorite compositions. On Sol 2173, we planned a long 65 m drive to get Curiosity close to our next drill site in the Lake Orcadie region. We ended the plan on Sol 2174 with ChemCam calibration and sky observations, as well as our usual post-drive MARDI twilight image to document the terrain beneath the rover. If all goes well, we should be at our next drill site in no time!

Sols 2175-2176 update by Ashwin Vasavada: Tell Us More, We Want to Help! (19 September 2018)

Over the past few days, engineers here at JPL have been working to address an issue on Curiosity that is preventing it from sending much of the science and engineering data stored in its memory. The rover remains in its normal mode and is otherwise healthy and responsive.

The issue first appeared Saturday night while Curiosity was running through the weekend plan. Besides transmitting data recorded in its memory, the rover can transmit "real-time" data when it links to a relay orbiter or Deep Space Network antenna. These real-time data are transmitting normally, and include various details about the rover's status. Engineers are expanding the details the rover transmits in these real-time data to better diagnose the issue. Because the amount of data coming down is limited, it might take some time for the engineering team to diagnose the problem.

On Monday and Tuesday, engineers discussed which real-time details would be the most useful to have. They also commanded the rover to turn off science instruments that were still on, since their data are not being stored. They're also preparing to use the rover's backup computer in case they need to use it to diagnose the primary computer. That backup computer was the rover's primary one until Sol 200, when it experienced both a hardware failure and software issue that have since been addressed.

While the engineers work to understand the problem, Curiosity's science team is using the time to pore over data gathered on Vera Rubin Ridge and come up with the best location for another drilling attempt. We're looking at any clues that tell us the rocks are weaker and better for drilling. As the JPL-based project scientist, I really enjoy watching our scientists from all over the world take on these challenges. And, I also get to witness the brainpower that JPL brings to bear when the rover has a technical issue. We're rooting for the engineering team 100%!

This blog may be less frequent until science operations resume.

Science story by Susanne Schwenzer: Geology - It's like Investigating a Crime Scene (5 October 2018)

Sometimes planetary geology is like forensics. We are presented with a crime scene: Something broke down the original igneous rock, and made all those clays, veins and hematite nodules. We know this something was a fluid, but in order to find out exactly what has happened, we need to examine all the evidence we have. That often starts with investigating the images, and in great detail. That's when we look at Mastcam images for the geologic context, then RMI and/or MAHLI for the close-up details. But what about the chemistry?

We are a small team here in the UK, specializing in what is called "thermochemical modelling." Thermochemical modelling uses mathematical equations that are based on known reactions of minerals with water. The models combine many thousands of such reactions into equations, which can be solved iteratively to arrive at a reaction path for a known rock composition. And once we determine what reacted and how, we can also infer which chemical elements remained in the water because they were not included in the reaction products. In other words, we can find out how the chemical elements are distributed between the fluid and the newly forming minerals. Some of our French and American colleagues use this method too, and we always have great discussions to advance our work. We take all the data that we have, images and chemistry from ChemCam and APXS, and where available also mineralogy from CheMin. That's the evidence at our crime scene. But who broke the rock and left all those clays and white veins?

We know it is "the fluid," and the modelling allows us to find out what temperature and composition this fluid might have had. For example, we have looked at the veins Curiosity found very early in the mission - at Yellowknife Bay. They were very pure calcium-sulfate, especially compared to what Curiosity measured later at Garden City and now at Vera Rubin Ridge. The purity of the calcium-sulfate at Yellowknife Bay gave us a clue: If we model a typical Yellowknife Bay rock with all chemical elements in the proportions available in this rock to react with water, then we will get veins that have more than just calcium-sulfate. We would therefore expect veins that have other minerals such as iron oxides and quartz. But the veins at Yellowknife Bay did not have any of those additional minerals. Therefore, we concluded that they must have come from water selectively dissolving a pre-existing mixed-mineralogy layer. The dissolution of this pre-existing layer would have left the less soluble minerals - quartz, iron oxides - behind while transporting the calcium and sulfate. This would have allowed the formation of a very pure calcium-sulfate, which is what was observed! But how does that help us at Vera Rubin Ridge?

The rover is currently exploring a very complex area, which has clearly seen the interaction of rocks with fluids. There are veins much more complex than the ones at Yellowknife Bay, and in addition there are iron nodules, crystal moulds and colour changes. We, the modellers, are working hard to understand how the fluid changed to produce all this new evidence… more later, as investigators rarely talk about ongoing investigations, right?

Science story by Abigail Fraeman: Crystal Balls May Show the Future, but Gypsum Crystals Tell Us About the Past (8 October 2018)

As Curiosity continues to mend, I've been looking forward to our next drill sample of gray rock. Some interesting features we've seen on Vera Rubin Ridge are small "swallowtail crystals" often associated with the boundary between gray and red rocks on the ridge top. In thinking about these features, I wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on past results from when Curiosity was just beginning to explore Mt. Sharp at the Pahrump Hills region. Readers of this blog may remember that back on sol 809, after we brushed away the dust on target "Mojave," the team was surprised and excited to discover hundreds of millimeter-sized, rice-shaped crystals on its face. These crystals are geologic clues to what happened in the past. What were these unique features made of? How and when did they form?

SWALLOWTAIL CRYSTALS CLOSE TO DRILL ATTEMPT AT INVERNESS

This image was taken by ChemCam: Remote Micro-Imager (CHEMCAM_RMI) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 2163 (2018-09-06 12:10:38 UTC). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL

Curiosity scientist Linda Kah and colleagues address these questions in a new paper available in the journal Terra Nova titled "Syndepositional precipitation of calcium sulfate in Gale Crater, Mars." For this study, Kah and colleagues carefully studied the sizes, shapes, and orientations of the unusual crystals at Mojave and several nearby targets. They integrated these findings with the geologic setting, chemistry, and mineralogy of the Pahrump Hills area to infer the presence of shallow, salty, and sometimes ephemeral waters during this period in Gale's history.

Kah and co-authors explain that the crystal shapes are distinctive of gypsum salts that precipitate in lake, playa, and near-shore ocean environments. Interestingly, Curiosity did not detect any large differences in the composition of rocks containing crystals versus nearby, non-crystal-containing rocks. This result suggests the calcium sulfate that originally formed the crystals had either been dissolved at a later time and/or that the crystals had incorporated a lot of the original rocks around within them when they formed.

The shapes, sizes, and orientation of crystals give clues to how they grow. Kah and authors showed the crystals at Pahrump were randomly oriented and occurred between and within cemented layers. Combined with the crystals' elongated shapes, this suggests that they grew at the interface between loose, water-logged sediment and either shallow water or air. Interestingly, small amounts of organic (carbon-bearing) material can cause crystals to have shapes similar to those observed at Mojave, which is consistent with Curiosity findings of organic material in the Mojave drill sample.

The swallowtail crystals on Vera Rubin Ridge are also known shapes of gypsum crystals. Why are these crystals so different in form from what we saw back at Mojave? What does this all tell us about ancient environments at Gale Crater?

Related Mojave news story: Crystal-Rich Rock 'Mojave' is Next Mars Drill Target ››

Article: Syndepositional precipitation of calcium sulfate in Gale Crater, Mars ››

Sol 2204 update by Sarah Lamm: Curiosity science is baaaack! (19 October 2018)

Contrary to the "frightening" title, the Curiosity team is excited that science operations are starting to resume! The real fright was when Curiosity had an anomaly on Sol 2172 which affected its memory. Since then, the engineering team has continued to diagnose the anomaly and plan the recovery, including taking the first images with the A-side engineering cameras that haven't been used since 2013! Thanks to our hard-working engineers, Curiosity is ready for limited science operations while the anomaly work continues.

Curiosity has been at the (sadly) unsuccessful "Inverness" drill site since the anomaly. Curiosity is still exploring the gray Jura member on Vera Rubin Ridge. The uplink plan for Sol 2204 includes the use of RAD, REMS, and DAN (active and passive).

RAD detects high-energy radiation on the Martian surface. RAD's data will help shape future human mission to Mars by letting us know how much shielding from radiation future Mars astronauts will need to protect them. REMS (Rover Environmental Monitoring Station) is Curiosity's weather station. REMS can measure pressure, humidity, ultraviolet radiation, and temperature. DAN (Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons) detects neutrons that be used to measure the amount of hydrogen and other elements in the subsurface.

Science story by Catherine O’Connell-Cooper: Recap of the Bagnold Dune Investigation (22 October 2018)

As Curiosity continues on her journey up Mount Sharp (the mound in the centre of Gale crater), rocks we encounter contain evidence for changing environmental conditions. The fine-grained mudstones of the Murray formation show us that lakes were present in the past, whilst the sandstones of the Stimson formation are evidence for ancient dune fields.

During 2015-2017, we crossed the Bagnold dune field, a 35-km long by 1-2 km wide dune field that wraps around the northwest side of Mount Sharp. This was the first time that scientists have explored an active dune system on another planet. In the Martian fall/winter, we investigated two barchan dunes. Barchan dunes are crescent shaped and are formed by winds blowing in one direction, and when sediment supply is limited. Later on, during the Martian summer, we examined a linear dune. Linear dunes are formed by winds blowing in two directions, with more abundant sediment supply, and can be very long (on Earth, they can reach 160 miles in length e.g., Namib Sand Sea, Namibia).

Curiosity lived up to her official name "Mars Science Laboratory" for both parts of the campaign, utilizing almost every scientific instrument on board, plus the engineering cameras (Navcam and Hazcam) to collect observations and measurements. In a series of papers recently released, we present these results, looking at all aspects of the Bagnold dunes.

As we traversed the dune field and at each stop, we observed the physical properties of the sand dunes, such as grain size, rates of grain motion, and the overall bedform morphologies, using MAHLI, ChemCam, MARDI, Mastcam, Navcam, and REMS. We observed differences in wind activity levels, with lower wind and less movement of sand during the fall/winter than during the summer. Dust content (indicated by sulphur, chlorine and zinc levels, as measured by APXS; higher concentrations mean higher dust content) indicates that observed activity levels were higher in the linear dunes which were investigated during the summer (higher winds, less dust settling) and lower in the barchan dunes, which were investigated during the fall/winter.

We determined chemical composition, mineralogy and volatile content of sands using APXS, ChemCam, CheMin, DAN and SAM. My role as a member of the APXS operations team involved evaluating the composition of samples analyzed, comparing between the barchan and linear dunes, as well as sands previously analyzed by the Opportunity rover (at Meridiani Planum) and Spirit (at Gusev Crater). The basaltic Bagnold sands show subtle variations in mineralogy and chemistry, both between the barchan and linear dunes, but also depending on location within a dune. For example, ripple crests were often more coarse-grained and enriched in magnesium and nickel, whilst off-crest sands within the linear dunes were enriched in chromium. These variations may reflect sorting processes, or minor enrichments from local bedrock sources.

Our journey through the Bagnold Dunes has helped advanced our understanding of how winds shape modern Martian landscapes, and the properties of windblown materials, in the form of both the active Bagnold dunes and in ancient Martian dunes now preserved as rock in units such as the Stimson formation at Gale crater.

AGU Journals:

- Investigations of the Bagnold Dune Field, Gale crater ›

- Curiosity at the Bagnold Dunes, Gale Crater: Advances in Martian Eolian Processes ›

Sols 2211-2212 update by Ashley W. Stroupe: Getting Back into the Science Swing of Things! (24 October 2018)

While we are working toward understanding and recovering from the anomaly, Curiosity is slowly ramping back up into normal science operations.

Earlier this week, we got our environmental instruments DAN, RAD, and REMS back online and we exercised the arm for the first time since the anomaly, retracting it from the surface and moving it above the deck. Today we are doing some environmental and atmospheric observations with REMS, RAD, and DAN. We're also using our Engineering cameras to do atmospheric science observations and some sky imaging to help in camera calibration. Mastcam is also being used for the first time to take several atmospheric tau measurements, as well as looking out at our workspace and the targets we were investigating. We're specifically doing change detection to see if the drill fines have moved around with the wind and if there is dust moving around on the targets and on the rover deck. We're looking forward to getting the rest of our instruments, the arm, and mobility all back to nominal operations soon.

An important milestone to note - on sol 2211 Curiosity will surpass the lifespan of the Spirit rover (we last heard from her on sol 2210) and become the second-longest lived rover on Mars, second to Opportunity!

Sols 2213-2215 update by Lauren Edgar: Eyes on the sky (26 October 2018)

The focus of today's three-sol plan is environmental monitoring. I'll be on duty as SOWG Chair on Monday, so I dialed in today to get up to speed. The first sol kicks off with Mastcam tau, Navcam line of sight, and Navcam dust devil observations, to monitor the dust content in the atmosphere and search for dust devils. Then CheMin will return the remaining raw data frames from the "Stoer" analysis from early September. In the afternoon, Curiosity will acquire a Mastcam sky survey, Navcam zenith movie, and Navcam suprahorizon movie, which will provide additional atmospheric monitoring data. Similar environmental observations will be acquired early the next morning, with an additional Mastcam crater rim extinction observation. The second sol also includes a redo of the pre-anomaly post-drive imaging, to look for changes and provide a terrain mesh prior to resuming full arm and mobility activities. And the third sol includes a final suite of Mastcam tau, Navcam dust devil and Navcam suprahorizon movies, in addition to the standard REMS and DAN passive observations throughout the plan.

But while the environmental theme group has their eyes on the sky, I've got mine on the ground, including the above Navcam view, looking south over the back of the rover, and the new terrain that we are tantalizingly close to reaching. Looking forward to resuming full science operations soon!

Sol 2216 update by Melissa Rice: A Windswept Workspace (29 October 2018)

Today was the first day of planning with the full science team since Curiosity had an anomaly on sol 2172. It has been a over a month since we last looked at the "workspace," the region in front of the rover that the arm can reach, and there were some surprises in store for us! Before the anomaly, the rock was covered with gray-colored tailings from our failed attempt to drill the "Inverness" target, as seen in the Mastcam image from sol 2170. In the new image above, however, those tailings are now gone - and so is a lot of the dark brown soil and reddish dust. So while Curiosity has been sitting still, the winds have been moving, sweeping the workspace clean.

Later this week we plan to take advantage of this freshly-scrubbed surface by taking close-up MAHLI images of fine details in the rock, including the light-toned veins crisscrossing the outcrop that are peppered with interesting dark inclusions. Today we're easing back into science operations, taking MAHLI images with the cover open and closed to inspect how much dust is on the cover, a MAHLI image of the REMS UV sensor, a ChemCam observation of the vein target "Grange," and some Mastcam images of the nearby ripple field "Sandend" to look for more changes due to the wind.

In my role as a Long-Term Planner, I've got my eye on the road ahead, and I'm excited for Curiosity to drive to a new spot where we can successfully drill into the gray rock. Soon the wind won't be the only thing moving around here!

Sol 2217 update by Lucy Thompson: A BOO-tiful Halloween on Mars - Curiosity's Return to Contact Science (1 November 2018)

Mastcam left image showing the Inverness and Grange targets in the workspace.

Today was an exciting day for me as a member of the APXS team and filling the role of payload uplink lead, as Sol 2217 marked a return to contact science activities after our anomaly on Sol 2172. When the anomaly occurred, the APXS was poised to measure the composition of the freshly exposed "Inverness" bedrock surface (after an unsuccessful drill attempt on Sol 2170) to compare with the previously brushed surface and other fresh rock surfaces examined by APXS on the Vera Rubin Ridge. The plan today is to recover this measurement, with accompanying MAHLI imaging, as well as to get chemical and textural data (with APXS and MAHLI) on another interesting target in the workspace, "Grange." "Grange" appears to be an area of bright calcium sulfate (commonly observed as veins cross-cutting bedrock encountered throughout the mission), but with small, dark inclusions that might have an interesting composition.

We also planned ChemCam on a bedrock target "Clune" with accompanying Mastcam imaging, as well as Mastcam imaging of an interesting area of rougher textured rock "Ayr" and multispectral Mastcam observations of the "Inverness" area. The plan was rounded out with some environmental monitoring activities including DAN passive and REMS.

I am looking forward to getting the data down from these observations and comparing the chemistry and textures of these rocks with other rock targets encountered on the Vera Rubin Ridge. The chemistry and textures can provide clues to the conditions the sediments were deposited in as well as subsequent events such as diagenesis (as the sediment is buried, compacted and cemented and turned into a rock), and later alteration.

Looking ahead, Curiosity is hoping to soon drive away from this site towards an area, "Lake Orcadie," where we will attempt another drill into one of these interesting bright grey areas identified from orbit on the Vera Rubin Ridge.

Sol 2218 update by Sarah Lamm: No Candy, Just Science for Curiosity (1 November 2018)

Curiosity had a good Halloween because it had resumed contact science. Today, Curiosity will have a targeted science block, drive, and then have an untargeted science block. MAHLI will take images of the "Lossiemouth" target before the drive. ChemCam has two planned targets before the drive: "Milton Ness" and "Grange 2218." Milton Ness is a target to capture more of the vein material and some bedrock, too. We are taking more measurements of Grange so we have more information on the dark inclusions. There is also scheduled Mastcam imagery for each ChemCam target.

After these science activities, we will be headed toward an area in the grey Jura member called "Lake Orcadie." This would be the first time that Curiosity has driven in six weeks. This will only be a test drive to ensure the software and mechanics are working properly. Curiosity was at Lake Orcadie before, back on sol 1977. We had tried to drill at Lake Orcadie before, using our new drilling method, but it was not successful. Then we planned to drive back to Lake Orcadie on sol 2173, but there was an anomaly on sol 2172.

After the drive we have DAN (active), Mastcam imagery of the new location, and one more ChemCam target called "Aegis Post 2218." AEGIS is artificial intelligence software that we use after a drive. It can use Curiosity’s cameras to identify rocks, and then AEGIS uses ChemCam’s laser to shoot the rocks. This has increased the amount of data we can get from Gale Crater.

My operations role today was ChemCam science downlink lead. I got to process the most recent ChemCam data that had not been analyzed yet. I collect images, locations, and chemistry data and compile the data into preliminary reports. This role helps the uplink team decide if they want to retarget any rock or choose new targets.

Sols 2219-2221 update by Kristen Bennett: Curiosity goes bump! (2 November 2018)

Yesterday Curiosity drove for the first time since sol 2166! Our intrepid explorer is truly back at it after a few weeks off due to the anomaly. The short drive (also called a bump) placed us in a workspace a few meters away from our previous location where we had attempted to drill (see image above that shows a MAHLI observation of the shallow drill hole).

In this weekend's three-sol plan there will be several diagnostic activities that will help us to understand the anomaly. In addition to the diagnostics, the weekend plan includes ChemCam and Mastcam observations of "Dryden" and "Kirkness," which are bedrock targets, and of "Housay," which is a vein within the bedrock. Also included is a Mastcam observation of "Eynhallow" to document laminations within the bedrock, a MARDI image, and a Navcam dust devil survey.

There are ChemCam RMI Zenith Sky Flats scheduled on the first sol. In this activity ChemCam will take images looking up at the sky. This activity needs to happen near sunset because ChemCam should not look directly at the sun. These sky flats help us determine whether there is any dust contamination on ChemCam's optical window, which is important right now because Mars just experienced a global dust event.

On the second sol, APXS and MAHLI will be used to investigate two targets: "Calgary" and "Findon." Calgary is typical gray bedrock, and this target will be brushed with the DRT prior to the MAHLI and APXS measurements.

On the third sol Curiosity will drive towards Lake Orcadie, and next week we plan to start our drill campaign in the gray colored rocks at that location!