Sols 1600-1601 update by Lauren Edgar: Celebrating Sol 1600 with “Whiskey” and “Rye” (3 February 2017)

Wow, 1600 sols on Mars – that is quite an accomplishment! And we’re at an exciting point in the traverse as we approach the next segment of the Bagnold Dunes. Curiosity’s weekend plan includes more contact science and driving as we continue to investigate the Murray formation and prepare for observations at the active sand dunes. This Saturday is a soliday (a day without planning to allow Earth and Mars schedules to sync back up), so we’ll transition from a late slide sol today to early slide sols next week. The plan begins with additional imaging of “Ireson Hill” to document the bedding geometry and cap rock from a different viewing position. We’ll also take a Mastcam tau, a Navcam dust devil movie, and a Mastcam image to monitor the rover deck. Then Curiosity will acquire MAHLI images of two targets: “Whiskey” and “Rye” (hmmm, perhaps some Sol 1600 celebrations are in order), with a short APXS integration on “Whiskey” and a longer overnight integration on “Rye.” Both targets were selected to study the stratification and chemistry of the Murray formation here. On Sol 1601, Curiosity will carry out some drill diagnostics, followed by a drive and post-drive imaging. We’ll also take a Mastcam 360-degree mosaic, which should be very scenic from this site – looking out over the dunes and capturing features like “Ireson Hill.” And finally, Curiosity will wake up early on Sol 1602 for a suite of environmental monitoring observations. Stay tuned for the second investigation of the Bagnold Dunes next week!

Sol 1602 update by Ryan Anderson: Bagnold Dunes 2: Electric Boogaloo (7 February 2017)

The weekend plan went well and today we begin the second half of the campaign to study the “Bagnold Dunes”. The Sol 1602 plan starts off with two Mastcam mosaics of the dunes which will be repeated several times later in the sol to watch for changes. Navcam also has a dust devil monitoring observation in the morning science block. Around midday, Mastcam will do a couple of measurements to determine the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and ChemCam will do an active LIBS observation of the soil target “Mapleton” as the final step in the diagnostics that will allow it to return to active duty! In addition to change detection, Mastcam has a stereo image of some bedforms at “Flume Ridge,” a 9x2 mosaic of the interesting nearby dune field, and a 3x2 observation in support of the campaign to watch for dust devils. Later in the sol, MAHLI will have a field day, observing the targets “Scarboro”, “McKenny”, “Matagamon”, “Flume Ridge”, “The Forks”, and “West Branch”. The rest of the sol involves repeating the Mastcam change detection observations, going all the way until 7:30 in the evening.

Sol 1603 update by Ryan Anderson: Finishing at Stop 1 (9 February 2017)

Yesterday’s plan went well, and ChemCam has run all of the planned diagnostics and will be back in action tomorrow! Similar to yestersol’s plan, the Sol 1603 plan begins with a pair of Mastcam observations which will be repeated throughout the day to look for any changes in the nearby sand. Mastcam also has multispectral observations of targets “Matagamon,” “Scarboro,” and “Flume Ridge”. Next, Mastcam has a mosaic of some interesting sand ripples. We will wrap up the early afternoon science block with Mastcam atmospheric observations and a Navcam dust devil movie.

After that, MAHLI will take a look at “Matagamon”, “West Branch”, “Flume Ridge”, “Dry Wall” and “McKenny”. That will be followed by an engineering test with APXS and an overnight APXS measurement of the target “Flume Ridge”. If all goes according to plan today, that will wrap up our observations at this location and we will move on to stop #2 of this second campaign to study Bagnold dunes.

Sol 1604-1605 update by Ryan Anderson: Toward Ireson Hill (10 February 2017)

On Sol 1604 we wrapped up at the first stop of this second phase of the Bagnold Dune campaign. The plan started off, as usual for the dune campaign, with a pair of Mastcam images that were then repeated throughout the day to look for changes. ChemCam had an RMI of the target “Mapleton” and then Mastcam had a whole series of images of nearby sand formations. Once that was taken care of, we decided to drive back toward Ireson Hill so that we can take a closer look at some of the geology there. The drive was about 55 meters, followed by post-drive imaging.

In the 1605 plan, ChemCam’s laser is back in action with an analysis of the target “Carys Mills”. Mastcam will take a supporting image of the same target, as well as a small mosaic of the target “Calderwood”. We will then continue driving around the east side of Ireson hill toward our targets of interest, ending at a rock that may be part of the hill’s capping layer.

Sols 1606-1608 update by Ryan Anderson: Studying Ireson Hill (10 February 2017)

Our drive on Sol 1605 was successful, putting us in a good position for weekend science on the northeast side of Ireson Hill. The sol 1606 plan starts off with ChemCam observations of “Quimby,” which appears to be a piece of cap rock that has tumbled down from the top of the hill, and a bedrock target “Quoddy”. Mastcam will take an image to document the ChemCam dataset that was automatically collected at the end of the Sol 1605 drive, as well as a mosaic of an area called “Castine”. APXS will then do an overnight analysis on “Quoddy” and “Pogy”.

Sol 1607 is not too busy: the main activity is a short science block with atmospheric observations using Navcam, ChemCam, and Mastcam. Sol 1608 makes up for it though. It starts off with ChemCam of the targets “Cushing” and “Bucksport”. Mastcam will document those two targets and then do some multispectral observations of “Quoddy”, “Quimby”, and “Jemtland”. We will wrap up Sol 1608 with some workspace images and a MARDI image of the ground under the rover.

Sol 1609 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Passagassawakeag and other challenges (13 February 2017)

MSL drove a little over 9 meters on Sol 1608, to get the vehicle closer to Ireson Hill and the dark blocks that have rolled down from the top of the hill. Two of these blocks are within reach of the arm, but both are challenging targets. Even the name chosen for the dark block at the left side of the image above is difficult: "Passagassawakeag." It's pointier that we would like for contact science, and the other dark block, dubbed "Perry" (at lower right in the image above), is close enough to the rover that there is a risk of collision with the arm. Complicating the plan further, the best time to take MAHLI images of these targets is late in the afternoon, when they won't be shadowed by the arm. But the last chance to send data to Earth in time to make them available for planning tomorrow is earlier in the afternoon, making it difficult to return all of the data needed to respond to a possible arm fault. Therefore, we decided to acquire a single MAHLI image of Passagassawakeag from a safe distance of 5 cm before the critical communications opportunity, and send it in case the full suite of MAHLI images of Perry planned later in the afternoon is not successful. We would then be better able to plan contact science on Perry tomorrow if necessary.

The Sol 1609 plan starts with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observation of Passagassawakeag, a typical Murray bedrock exposure named "Spurwink," and a more distant dark block called "Wassataquoik" (another tongue-twister). Then the Right Mastcam will acquire a 3x1 mosaic of the Perry area, single images of rocks near the top of the hill named "Gonic," "Kineo," and "Edmunds," followed by an 8x4-frame mosaic of the right side of the hill. Just before the MAHLI imaging of Perry, a full suite of MAHLI images, plus extra stereo frames, is planned on Spurwink. After all of the MAHLI activities have been completed, the APXS will be placed on Perry for a pair of short integrations, then placed on Spurwink for an overnight integration. Of course we are hoping that this complicated plan goes well!

Sol 1610 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Finishing up at Ireson Hill (14 February 2017)

The activities planned for Sol 1609 went well, and MAHLI focus data indicate that high-resolution images of Perry were successfully acquired. So we're ready to drive away from Ireson Hill after some more remote sensing of the rocks in front of the rover. The Sol 1610 plan starts with some more drill diagnostic tests, then the arm will be moved out of the way for remote sensing. ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a bedrock exposure named "Fogelin" that shows subtle color variations, and Mastcam will acquire multispectral sets of images of yesterday's contact science targets Perry and Spurwink. As more Sol 1609 data were returned during planning this morning, the Mastcam team noticed that the Right Mastcam image of Edmunds was blocked by the arm, so this activity will be repeated on Sol 1610 with the arm out of the way. Mastcam will also measure dust in the atmosphere before the drive and standard post-drive imaging. Later in the afternoon, Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, and ChemCam will acquire some calibration data. REMS will take a break from the usual environmental monitoring to update their flight software.

Sol 1611 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Patch Mountain (15 February 2017)

MSL drove almost 27 meters on Sol 1610 to a location with several potential targets, so the planning team spent some time discussing priorities. A dark patch of bedrock, appropriately named "Patch Mountain" was chosen for ChemCam, Right Mastcam, and MAHLI observations. The MAHLI imaging was moved after the ChemCam observation so that the LIBS impact spots would be visible. An additional MAHLI image was added to the standard full suite, to provide a 3-image mosaic from 5 cm. Then the rover will drive again, and take images afterward to enable planning more activities on Sol 1612. Just before sunset, Navcam will search for dust devils and REMS will complete the second part of their flight software update.

Sols 1612-1613 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Planning challenges (16 February 2017)

After a 23-meter drive on Sol 1611, MSL again ended up in an area with many bedrock blocks partly covered by dark sand. We're planning two sols today to get a head start on planning for the holiday weekend, with the first sol strategically planned to allow the "touch and go" option. But there's a ridge about 30 meters ahead that we can't see over, and we would like to be able to drive up onto it on Sol 1612 to allow a drive past it to be planned this weekend. There isn't enough time before the "decisional" telecommunications opportunity to fit both contact science and a 30-meter drive into the plan, so we had to pick one of these two options. Based on images taken from orbit and by the rover, lots of bedrock is exposed at the crest of the ridge 30 meters away, so we picked the longer drive at the expense of contact science today, hoping that the rover will be in a better place for contact science this weekend. Before the drive, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a bright/dark boundary on a block at the left side of the image above (dubbed "Frenchville"), and Right Mastcam will acquire a 2x2 mosaic of another block named "Third Lake." After the drive, we're planning fewer images to support weekend planning because the expected downlink data volume is much less than usual. We therefore spent more time than usual carefully prioritizing the post-drive images for downlink, and may not receive all of the data we need to plan contact science and a drive this weekend.

Later in the afternoon of Sol 1612, ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select a LIBS target and acquire a 3x3 set of chemical measurements. The REMS software upgrade went well, so REMS environmental monitoring is being planned again today! On Sol 1613, ChemCam will acquire passive calibration data, and Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds. Finally, the rover will sleep overnight in preparation for what we hope will be a busy weekend plan. The issues described above made for a challenging day for me as SOWG Chair!

Sols 1614-1616 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Delayed planning (17 February 2017)

The Sol 1612 drive went well, and there is a nice bedrock block in the arm workspace. We received a bit more data than expected before planning started, but not enough to finalize drive plans and contact science targets. As expected, we received more data during planning, including color images of the arm workspace that were very useful in selecting contact science targets. The late arrival of the necessary data caused delays in the standard uplink planning timeline, but the tactical team did a great job and we have an excellent weekend plan. It's good to see REMS extended blocks back in the plan after the successful software upgrade.

On Sol 1614, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe bedrock targets named "Columbia Falls," "Spider Lake," and "Loon Stream." Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere and acquire a 3x3 mosaic of a layered block dubbed "Aroostook River." Late that afternoon, MAHLI will image the REMS UV sensor and acquire mosaics of another bedrock target named "Chain Lakes" and of Spider Lake. The APXS will then measure the chemistry of the Spider Lake area at overlapping locations to look for spatial variations in composition. Early the next morning, Mastcam will again measure dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will search for clouds. Later on Sol 1615, more drill diagnostic tests are planned, then the APXS will be placed on its calibration target for an overnight integration. A short drive to the dark dunes south of the rover is planned on Sol 1616, followed by unstowing the arm and post-drive imaging. Another busy (sometimes hectic) day for me as SOWG Chair!

Sol 1617 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Re-attempt the drive (21 February 2017)

The drive planned for Sol 1616 halted early, apparently because the right rear wheel got stuck between two rocks. The mobility team concluded that it is safe to continue, so the drive planned for Sol 1617 is essentially the same as the previously-planned drive. Before the drive, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe a sand target named "New Sweden" and Right Mastcam will acquire mosaics of a layered bedrock outcrop dubbed "Hobbstown" and of the dunes that are the target of the drive. Mastcam will also measure dust in the atmosphere before the drive begins. After the drive and more testing of the drill, along with post-drive imaging to support planning on Wednesday, ChemCam will use AEGIS to select a target for chemical analysis.

Sol 1618 update by Lauren Edgar: A second stop at the dunes (22 February 2017)

The drive on Sol 1617 went well, and Curiosity drove 20 m to the south, which put us in a good position for another stop at the Bagnold Dunes. This site was selected to enable comparison of the leading and trailing edges of the dunes. Today’s plan includes ChemCam observations of disturbed and undisturbed soil, at targets named “Tomhegan” and “Macworth.” We’ll also acquire a Mastcam multispectral observation on “Macworth,” along with systematic deck monitoring. A number of environmental monitoring activities are planned in the first science block, including two dust devil surveys, a Mastcam tau, and a crater rim extinction observation to monitor atmospheric opacity. In the afternoon we have three MAHLI targets planned: “Waweig” (undisturbed ripple crest), “Tomhegan” (undisturbed ripple flank) and “Seboomook” (disturbed sand). APXS will also acquire data on “Tomhegan,” with an overnight integration on “Waweig.” Throughout the plan, Mastcam will also perform several change detection experiments at two different locations to monitor sand movement. Looks like quite the day for investigating the Bagnold Dunes!

Sol 1619 update by Ryan Anderson: Wrapping up dune stop #2 (24 February 2017)

We are wrapping up our observations at stop #2 of the second Bagnold dunes campaign. In the Sol 1619 plan, we start off with Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by a ChemCam observation of the sandy target “Leighton”. Mastcam will then document Leighton and the autonomously identified ChemCam target from the post-drive science block on Sol 1617. Throughout the day, there will also be a number of repeated Mastcam change detection observations. Afterward, we’ll drive away toward stop #3 and collect our standard post-drive imaging.

Sols 1620-1622 update by Lauren Edgar: A weekend full of remote sensing (24 February 2017)

On Sol 1619, MAHLI experienced a fault and did not finish its planned imaging, so unfortunately the subsequent arm and mobility activities did not execute. That means that the weekend plan is devoted to MAHLI recovery activities and a lot of remote sensing. I was the GSTL today, and although it was a challenging start to the day, we were able to put together a very full plan. The first sol starts by retracting the arm. Then Curiosity will acquire several environmental monitoring observations to measure atmospheric opacity and characterize spectral properties. ChemCam will then assess the composition of typical bedrock and veins, at targets “Chase Brook,” “Aziscohos,” and “Chandler Ridge.” On the second sol, Curiosity will wake up early for environmental monitoring, including a ChemCam passive sky observation, Mastcam tau, Mastcam crater rim extinction observation, and several Navcam movies to look for clouds. Later in the afternoon, ChemCam will assess the composition of a ripple crest at the target “Depot Mountain,” followed by another passive sky and Mastcam tau. Overnight, SAM will conduct an electrical baseline test to monitor instrument health, and on the third sol, APXS will carry out a thermal characterization test. Throughout the plan Mastcam and MARDI will acquire a number of images to monitor the movement of sand. So I guess the day turned into a bonus plan for the second stop at the Bagnold Dunes, enabling a lot of change detection activities!

Sols 1623-1624 update by Lauren Edgar: MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing (27 February 2017)

Today’s two-sol plan is devoted to MAHLI diagnostics and remote sensing. It’s another late slide sol, so planning started three and half hours later than usual. The plan kicks off with arm activities to better understand the fault that MAHLI experienced last week. Then ChemCam will investigate “Dunn Brook,” a target that is just above “Chase Brook” from the weekend plan, and is shown in the above Mastcam image. The target shows some interesting color variations so ChemCam will be used to investigate changes in composition. We’ll also acquire a ChemCam observation of “Leighton,” to study the coarse sand grains at the crest of a ripple. Then Navcam will look for dust devils and clouds, in response to orbital observations that suggest recent increasing atmospheric opacity. On the second sol, Mastcam will acquire a multispectral observation on “Dunn Brook,” and will be used to document the previous APXS locations at “Tomhegan” and “Waweig.” We’ll also acquire a Mastcam image for deck monitoring to assess the movement of fines, and an upper tier Navcam mosaic to enable us to target features on Mt. Sharp. The second sol includes a number of environmental monitoring observations, using both Mastcam and Navcam to monitor the color and opacity of the atmosphere and search for dust devils. The plan also includes an APXS thermal characterization test and a number of change detection observations.

For more on Curiosity’s recent findings, check out this press release.

Sols 1625-1626 update by Lauren Edgar: Change detection and additional remote sensing (1 March 2017)

We’re still at the second stop of the Bagnold Dune campaign, running a few more MAHLI diagnostics and focusing on targeted remote sensing. I was the GSTL today and it was still a pretty busy day for the GEO theme group. The first sol includes a ChemCam observation of a ripple crest (similar to the observation from Sol 1621 shown in the above Mastcam image) and a long distance RMI to look for changes on the slope of Mt. Sharp. We’ll also use Navcam to search for dust devils, and Mastcam will survey the color and opacity of the atmosphere. The second sol includes ChemCam observations of “Allagash” and “Hersey” to investigate some bedrock with interesting color variations. Mastcam and Navcam will also be used to monitor the atmosphere and search for dust devils. In the afternoon of both sols, APXS will continue to collect data for thermal characterization. Throughout the plan, we’ll repeat several Mastcam and MARDI images to monitor changes in sand movement. These change detection observations have produced a great dataset that shows some awesome ripple activity.

Sols 1627-1629 update by Lauren Edgar: Driving again (3 March 2017)

Good news: the MAHLI cover was successfully opened and the instrument is marked healthy again. That means it’s time to close the cover, and if that’s successful, drive away toward the next stop in the Bagnold Dunes Campaign. I was the GSTL again and it was a pretty straightforward planning day. On the first sol, we’ll acquire ChemCam observations on “Swanback” and “Rangely” to assess the composition of a ripple crest and a bright patch of bedrock. We’ll also use Mastcam to image the rover deck to monitor the movement of fines. In the afternoon, we’ll close the MAHLI cover and run a few more diagnostics. The second sol starts with an early science block for environmental monitoring, including Navcam and Mastcam observations to look for clouds and monitor the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Later in the day we’ll use Navcam to search for dust devils. Then Mastcam will acquire a large mosaic of the stratigraphy exposed beneath the hematite ridge, and ChemCam will target “Thorofare” to assess the composition of veins in the local bedrock. We’ll also acquire a long distance ChemCam RMI mosaic to monitor the slope of Mt. Sharp and look for changes. Throughout the first and second sols, we’ll continue to take Mastcam images to monitor changes in sand movement. Then Curiosity will drive further to the south, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for targeting next week. The third sol is devoted to a few more environmental monitoring activities, an autonomously selected ChemCam target, and some ChemCam calibration activities. Looking forward to driving again and getting a new view!

Sols 1630-1631 update by Ryan Anderson: Early Morning Planning (7 March 2017)

We had an early-morning (6 AM on the west coast!) start to planning today, which was a bit painful but with the help of lots of caffeine we put together another plan full of good science! The exciting news from the weekend plan is that the MAHLI dust cover closed as planned, so we’re back in business with MAHLI.

The Sol 1630 plan will start with ChemCam observations of a vein called “Temple Stream”, a soil target called “Mattawamkeag”, and the bedrock target “Vassalboro” to coordinate with an APXS observation of “Sangerville”. MAHLI will also observe Sangerville, and Mastcam will document each of these targets. After that, the plan is to drive about 40 meters and collect some post-drive imaging.

Since we’re driving on sol 1630, sol 1631 will be dedicated to untargeted science. ChemCam has an AEGIS observation, as well as some calibration observations. This will be followed by Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations, including several observations to watch for dust devils.

Sols 1632-1633 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Contact science on "Spring Point" (8 March 2017)

The MSL rover drove a little over 40 meters on Sol 1630, to a place with bedrock blocks surrounded by dark sand. There's a bright block with parallel linear features in the arm workspace, so the tactical team decided to plan contact science on those features. This made for an exciting day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead! The MAHLI image through the closed dust cover that was planned for Sol 1630 was successfully acquired, so we're planning to acquire a similar image of the APXS target "Spring Point" on Sol 1632. MAHLI diagnostic images of its calibration target and more drill diagnostic tests are also planned for Sol 1632, along with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of Spring Point and a nearby target named "Nine Lake." Right Mastcam will also take an image of a laminated rock dubbed "Grand Pitch" before the rover drives away.

On Sol 1633, Navcam will search for dust devils and ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select and observe a target in the rover's new location. Finally, MARDI will take another image during twilight. If all goes well, we'll be able to return to normal MAHLI operations this weekend!

Sols 1634-1635 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Back to nominal MAHLI planning (10 March 2017)

MSL drove about 29 meters toward the south on Sol 1632, and is in a good position for weekend activities. The MAHLI images taken on Sol 1632 look good, and the dust cover is working properly, so MAHLI is ready to return to nominal operations! The tactical planning team therefore selected contact science targets on a block right in front of the rover that shows interesting color variations. This bedrock block is too close to the rover to allow ChemCam data to be safely acquired, so a nearby exposure was selected for an analogous measurement and named "Hurricane Mountain." I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and picked a nearly-vertical layered bedrock target that we called "Hardwood Mountain." Right Mastcam will image these targets and take a 4x3 mosaic of another bedrock block dubbed "Rocky Mountain." Mastcam will also acquire a multispectral set of images of "North Haven," a collection of pebbles near Hurricane Mountain, and survey the sky in the afternoon. Then MAHLI will take 5 images of "Canada Falls" from various distances before the APXS is placed on the first of 3 closely-spaced Canada Falls targets. After sunset, APXS data will be gathered on all 3 spots, using the arm to reposition the instrument between integrations.

Early on Sol 1635, Navcam will search for clouds and Mastcam will measure the dust in the atmosphere. Later in the day, more drill diagnostic tests are planned, followed by another set of Mastcam dust observations. Then the rover will drive toward the nearby dune and acquire data that will be used to select a target for the next drive, which will hopefully position the rover well for contact science on the dune sand.

Sol 1636 update by Ryan Anderson: Another Early Morning (13 March 2017)

Thankfully I wasn’t actually on duty today, because with daylight savings time Arizona is now on West-coast time, and planning started at 6:30am! In any case, the weekend plan was successful, and put us close to the third stop of the current campaign to study the Bagnold Dunes.

The Sol 1636 plan starts off with a ChemCam passive observation of Vera Rubin Ridge, with a supporting Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will also analyze the bedrock targets “Buck Cove Mountain” and “Smyrna Mills”. After that, we will do a short “bump” to Stop 3 of the dune campaign, with post-drive imaging. In the afternoon after the drive, ChemCam will do an automated AEGIS observation (likely to hit sand) and Navcam has a few atmospheric observations. We will also unstow the arm to prepare for contact science activities tomorrow.

Sol 1637 update by Ryan Anderson: Stop 3 (14 March 2017)

Yesterday’s short drive was successful, so we started today with the rover parked at stop #3 of the dune campaign and the rover’s arm up in the “ready out” position. The Sol 1637 plan starts out with a couple of Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam analysis of two targets on a nearby sand ripple. The target “Spragueville” is in the ripple trough and “Ripogenus” is on the ripple crest. Mastcam will document both targets, and will take a couple of small mosaics of the sand ripples that are visible from our new location. Mastcam also will document the ChemCam AEGIS target from sol 1636, and collect some multispectral images of an area where the rover’s wheel disturbed the sand, called “Hildreths.”

In the afternoon, MAHLI will take pictures of the targets “Ripogenus”, “Spragueville”, and the small ripple crest “Shin Brook.” APXS will then analyze “Spragueville” and “Ripogenus”. Throughout the day, Mastcam will also periodically be taking images of the target “Holmes Hole” to watch for any changes.

Sol 1638 update by Ryan Anderson: Busy Day for MAHLI (15 March 2017)

Today we are continuing our investigation of Stop #3 of the Bagnold Dune campaign. We start off with some MAHLI images of the APXS targets “Ripogenus” and “Spragueville” from yesterday. For these images, the MAHLI dust cover will stay closed. Then ChemCam will analyze the bedrock target “Holmes Hole” and the sand target “Spragueville”, with Mastcam support images. MAHLI will then come back to “Ripogenus” and “Spragueville” for some very close (2 cm and 1 cm, respectively) images, followed by some 25cm and 5cm images of the targets “Ash Island” and “Greenvale Cove”. APXS then will do a short analysis of “Ash Island” and a longer observation of “Greenvale Cove”. Also, as usual for our dune campaign stops, Mastcam will be taking change detection images throughout the day.

Meanwhile, many of us on the science team are busy preparing our posters and presentations for the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) which is next week!

Sol 1639 update by Ryan Anderson: Onward to Ogunquit Beach (16 March 2017)

Planning was challenging this morning because of some network issues at JPL, but the team figured out how to work around the problem and still managed to put together a good plan! We’ve been at Stop 3 of the dune campaign (now known as “Southern Cove”) for a couple of sols, so in today’s plan it’s time to move on.

On Sol 1639 the rover will begin by retracting the arm and doing some drill diagnostics before taking MAHLI images of the targets “Greenvale Cove” and “Holmes Hole”. After that, we have a remote sensing science block with a Navcam movie to watch for clouds above the crater rim, followed by a Mastcam change detection observation of “Holmes Hole” and a ChemCam observation of the disturbed sand at “Greenvale Cove”. Mastcam will also document “Greenvale Cove”. After the remote sensing is done, Curiosity will drive toward Stop 4 (“Ogunquit Beach”) and collect some post-drive images.

Sol 1640-1642 update by Ryan Anderson: Better Late than Never! (21 March 2017)

Sorry for the delayed posting! In the rush to get ready for the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), I forgot to post about the sol 1640-42 plan. Better late than never!

The weekend plan started with some Navcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam on the bedrock target “Big Moose Mountain”. Mastcam documented the ChemCam target and then did some deck monitoring and atmospheric dust observations. Then MAHLI and APXS analyzed the excellently-named targets “Junk of Pork Island” and “Uncle Steve’s Point”.

On Sol 1641, ChemCam analyzed “Dram Island” and “Frye Island”. Mastcam documented those targets and the APXS targets with a couple of small mosaics, and also observed the target “Anasagunticook”. We also ran some drill diagnostics. On Sol 1642 our main activity was a drive with typical post-drive imaging and MARDI.

Now, back to LPSC! If you want to hear the latest in planetary science, I and many others are "microblogging" the sessions on twitter, using the hashtag #LPSC2017!

Sol 1643 update by Ken Herkenhoff: First half of long-baseline stereo (20 March 2017)

MSL drove about 28 meters toward the south on Sol 1642 and again is in an area with Murray Formation bedrock blocks surrounded by dark sand. I helped plan ChemCam observations today, and we settled on a target called "Vinalhaven" at the left side of the layered bedrock exposure seen at upper left in this image. Right Mastcam will image Vinalhaven and coarse material to the right of that bedrock block, at targets named "Rindgemere" and "Hurd Mountain." Then Right Mastcam will image more distant targets, with a 3x1 mosaic of a layered rock about 11 meters away dubbed "Saint Daniel" and a 28x1 mosaic of the hematite-bearing "Vera Rubin Ridge" in the distance. This latter mosaic is the first half of a long-baseline stereo observation that should allow the topography of Vera Rubin Ridge to be measured more accurately than is possible using standard Mastcam stereo images. The long baseline will be achieved by moving the rover between Mastcam observations.

Another drive is planned for Sol 1643, followed by the standard post-drive imaging plus Left Mastcam imaging of the arm workspace to support possible contact science in the next plan. Later in the afternoon, Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, and ChemCam will again use AEGIS to autonomously select a target and acquire data.

Sol 1644 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Staying put (21 March 2017)

The Sol 1644 plan focuses on arm activities, because the volume of data expected to be relayed via the MRO and Mars Odyssey orbiters in time for planning tomorrow is too small to allow both a drive and drill diagnostic tests. So the tactical science team took advantage of the opportunity for contact science by planning APXS and MAHLI observations of bedrock targets named "The Hop" and "The Horns." But first, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe The Hop, then Right Mastcam will image the target AEGIS selected yesterday and examine rocks named "Heald Mountain," "Caucomgomoc Lake," and "Mooselookmeguntic Lake." Mastcam will also search for late-morning dust devils. After the drill diagnostics and full suites of MAHLI images of The Hop and The Horns, the APXS will be placed on The Hop for an overnight integration. Early the next morning, Navcam will search for clouds and Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere.

Sol 1645 update by Michael Battalio and Ken Herkenhoff: Searching for dust devils (22 March 2017)

The APXS will still be deployed on The Hop early on Sol 1645, and to avoid using battery power to heat up the arm, we'll wait until early afternoon to move it out of the way. So we had to pick ChemCam and Right Mastcam targets that would not be obscured by the arm: A bright vein named "Snows Point" and a knobby-looking rock dubbed "Clam Ledge." Navcam will then search for clouds and dust devils before the APXS is retracted from The Hop and more drill diagnostic tests performed. The Navcam surveys are part of an ongoing Environmental Science Theme Group (ENV) campaign to meticulously search for dust devil activity in Gale Crater. It is important to maintain a regular cadence, because as the location of the rover and thus surface topography changes, the size and number of dust devils can change. In concert with the imaging, simultaneous REMS measurements can detect pressure drops if vortices travel over or near the rover. This set of observations is needed to constrain model simulations and is an excellent example of two different instruments working together to improve our understanding of the meteorology of Gale Crater and dust lifting processes on Mars as MSL traverses up Mount Sharp. ENV also plans to repeat the Mastcam optical depth measurement and Navcam cloud movies that will be taken early in the morning of Sol 1645, to check for diurnal variability. A Mastcam afternoon sky survey is also planned, to characterize dust in the atmosphere. Today's drive will be followed by the post-drive imaging needed to plan contact science and another drive this weekend.

Sol 1646 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Traction control driving (23 March 2017)

MSL drove a little over 20 meters on Sol 1645, toward the big sand dune to the east that is the subject of a science campaign that will hopefully start next week. Another drive toward the east is planned for Sol 1646, with post-drive imaging to set up for contact science. The drive will include the first use on Mars of traction control software that's been tested and fine-tuned in JPL's Mars Yard since last April. This new software allows the rover to drive "softer," meaning that when the rover detects that a wheel is driving over a rock, it slows the other five wheels to avoid pushing the wheel into the rock while the wheel climbs over the rock. Curiosity's first use of traction control has been planned for months to begin about now and is intended to validate the new software for optional use in future drives.

Before the Sol 1646 drive, ChemCam will observe targets "Bald Rock Ledge" and "Porcupine Dry Ledge" on one of the layered outcrops to the right of the rover. Then Right Mastcam will acquire mosaics of both of the layered outcrops shown in the picture above. After the drive, Navcam will again search for dust devils and ChemCam will observe a target selected by AEGIS. Finally, Navcam will search for clouds and SAM will perform an engineering baseline test.

Sols 1647-1649 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Approaching the dune edge (24 March 2017)

The traction control test went well, and MSL drove over 30 meters on Sol 1646. The rover will be busy this weekend with lots of remote sensing, arm work, and a drive onto the edge of the dune. On Sol 1647, Left Mastcam will take a 360-degree panorama and Right Mastcam will acquire a 17x3 mosaic of the edge of the sand dune, which was named "Ogunquit Beach." Then ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe bedrock targets "Damariscotta Lake," "Mount Katahdin," and "Boothbay Harbor." Late that afternoon, the arm will be unstowed for drill diagnostic tests and a full suite of MAHLI images on another bedrock target dubbed "Halftide Ledge." APXS will then be placed on the same target for an overnight integration.

On Sol 1648, the arm will be stowed after more drill diagnostic tests and Navcam will search for dust devils while REMS acquires environmental data. Then the rover will drive onto the dune, toward a target near the center of the image above. After the drive, the arm will be unstowed to allow Mastcam and Navcam to acquire stereo images of the arm workspace to support planning next week. Early the next morning, Mastcam will measure the dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will search for clouds. In the afternoon, Right Mastcam will repeatedly take pictures of 3 areas near the rover to look for changes due to winds. Mastcam will also search for dust devils and measure atmospheric dust at two different times of day. Finally, the rover will sleep through the night to recharge in preparation for what will likely be a busy week.

Sol 1650 update by Lauren Edgar: Let the scooping begin! (27 March 2017)

Over the weekend, Curiosity bumped to our scooping location at “Ogunquit Beach.” We have a wheel scuff in the left side of our workspace and a sinuous ripple crest in the right side of the workspace, which according to today’s Geology Science Theme Lead Michelle Minitti is “everything a dune lover could want!” Today’s plan is focused on imaging the ripple crest, the interior of the scuff, and two of the scoop targets, along with APXS of the scuff interior.

The plan starts with slip assessment imaging and vibe checkout to prepare for sampling activities. Then we’ll acquire MAHLI images of two of the planned scoop targets to characterize the sites before we scoop them. We’ll also acquire MAHLI images of the interior of the scuff, now known as the “Flanders Bay” target, to assess the disturbed sand, and the ripple crest, now known as “Avery Peak.” Then we’ll place the APXS over “Flanders Bay” for an overnight integration. SAM will also perform some preconditioning heating activities to prepare for upcoming solid sample analysis. This is a very power intensive plan, so we had to trim back a couple of science activities to accommodate the sampling-related activities. Looking forward to a very complex and exciting scooping campaign!

Sol 1651 update by Lauren Edgar: Scoop #1 at Ogunquit Beach (28 March 2017)

Sol 1650 activities completed as expected, so it’s time to start scooping. Today’s plan is focused on acquiring Scoop #1 and dropping off a portion of the sample to SAM. This is the first of four intended scoops at this location, aimed at sampling different grain sizes and their composition. The plan begins with a Mastcam mosaic of “Kennebago Divide” to document some possible layering exposed by the wheel scuff on the right side of the workspace. We’ll also take several Mastcam images for change detection to monitor active sand movement. Then the arm backbone starts by retracting the arm and a vibe to clean APXS. After that we’ll take a few MAHLI documentation images of the “Flanders Bay” and Scoop #1 locations (prior to scooping), and a very close-up image of the “Avery Peak” ripple crest. Next up, we’ll acquire Scoop #1! The sample will be sieved, and the fine-grained portion (great view.

Sol 1652 update by Lauren Edgar: CheMin drop-off and SAM Analysis (29 March 2017)

Sol 1651 activities executed nominally, so today’s plan is focused on dropping off the fine-grained portion of “Ogunquit Beach” Scoop #1 (now named “OG1”) to CheMin, and SAM analysis of OG1. The plan kicks off with Mastcam multispectral imaging of the right and left wheel scuffs, as well as Mastcam change detection imaging. Then ChemCam will investigate “Tumbledown Mountain,” “Elephant Mountain” and “Canoe Point,” to characterize the composition of sand in different parts of the left wheel scuff. Navcam will also acquire an image to look at line-of-sight dust loading within the crater. Later in the afternoon, part of the OG1 sample will be dropped off to CheMin. Curiosity will stay busy overnight, with a SAM solid sample evolved gas experiment to analyze the fine-grained portion of OG1. I’m busy on the other side of the planet working operations for the Opportunity rover today, but it’s fun to hear many members of both rover teams jumping back and forth between telecons to help plan lots of great science activities for our hardworking robots.

Sol 1653 update by Lauren Edgar and Michael Battalio: Targeted science at Ogunquit Beach (30 March 2017)

Yesterday afternoon the downlink included some results of ongoing drill feed diagnostics that warrant a further look before proceeding with the dune campaign, so the arm activities from Sol 1652 were pulled from the plan and we did not drop-off to CheMin. But we did receive some beautiful images of scoop OG1, as shown in the above Mastcam image. Today’s plan is a great opportunity to do some targeted remote sensing activities that we haven’t been able to accomplish due to power constraints earlier in the week. The first science block includes ChemCam observations of “North Brother” and “Avery Peak” to investigate undisturbed sand and to look for changes in sand composition along a ripple crest. Then Mastcam will document the ChemCam targets and take several change detection observations. Later in the day, the GEO theme group requested a ChemCam observation of “Baxter Peak” to investigate changes in composition along another large ripple crest. We also planned two Mastcam mosaics to document sedimentary structures and changes in the Murray formation at nearby outcrops.

Meanwhile, the ENV theme group used the remote sensing sol to catch up on normal cadence activities, which had been partially suspended to provide as much time as possible for the dune campaign. ENV added a Navcam supra-horizon movie to try to capture cloud activity above the crater rim. Additionally, Mastcam was planned to capture a mid-week tau, to continue tracking changes in atmospheric dust between the usual weekend observations. The plan also includes a four-frame, Navcam dust devil survey to cover as wide an area across Gale as possible, and REMS and DAN observations were included as usual.

Sols 1654-1656 update by Lauren Edgar and Michael Battalio: MAHLI imaging of OG1 and remote sensing (31 March 2017)

Today’s three-sol plan starts with MAHLI imaging of the first scoop location (OG1). The first sol also includes Mastcam and MARDI imaging for change detection. The second sol involves a number of remote sensing activities, starting with a long morning imaging suite for environmental monitoring observations. The imaging suites are special observations that include Navcam cloud movies and dust opacity measurements from both Navcam and Mastcam at an early morning time, when the rover is usually asleep and recharging. The sol 1655 imaging suite is a long version which also includes a ChemCam passive sky measurement, which seeks to determine the chemical composition of the air near MSL. All of these measurements are duplicated in the afternoon to check for diurnal variability. Later in the afternoon we’ll also take a large Mastcam mosaic of “Vera Rubin Ridge,” for both stereo and multispectral analysis of the prominent ridge at the base of Mt. Sharp. We’ll also acquire a multispectral Mastcam image of the area observed by the Ground Temperature Sensor (GTS) to help with thermal modeling and grain size determination. The plan includes the usual REMS and DAN measurements, and additional REMS observations were added to determine if the REMS GTS is affected by an increase in winds in the afternoon. The second sol also includes more Mastcam change detection observations, and a large Navcam 15-frame dust devil movie to attempt to capture movement in individual dust devils and to estimate the amount of dust lifted by a range of vortex sizes. On the third sol, ChemCam will perform some calibration activities and analyze targets “Kamankeag” and “Hamlin Peak” to assess the composition of Murray bedrock and a small ripple. I’ll be on duty next week, so I’m getting caught up and looking forward to more dune campaign activities.

Sols 1657-1658 update by Ryan Anderson: April Fool's Day, or Groundhog's Day? (4 April 2017)

Over the weekend there was a problem with the Deep Space Network that we rely on to transmit commands to Curiosity, so the rover didn’t receive its instructions and instead went into “runout” mode, where it patiently waits for commands and does some basic environmental monitoring in the meantime. That means today’s plan was a “do-over” trying to cram everything from our weekend plan into two sols.

The Sol 1657 plan starts with a busy remote sensing science block. Navcam will take a couple of images of the workspace, then Mastcam will do a large multispectral mosaic of Vera Rubin Ridge and its interesting iron oxides. This is then followed by a multispectral observation of the target “Fivemile Brook” and an image to monitor the rover deck. Mastcam also has the first of several change monitoring observations in the science block. These observations are repeated throughout the day to see if any sand moves. Once Mastcam is done, ChemCam has a couple of passive calibration activities, followed by a long-distance RMI observation of Mt. Sharp that I requested.

Later in the Sol 1657 plan, MAHLI has a couple of documentation images of the scoop location at Ogunquit, and MARDI has a twilight observation of the ground under our wheels. SAM also has an engineering activity.

On Sol 1658, the plan starts off with some morning atmospheric observations using Navcam and Mastcam, as well as the start of another set of Mastcam change detection images. The main targeted science block on Sol 1658 has ChemCam observations of the targets “Kamankeag” and “Hamlik Peak” with accompanying Mastcam images. Navcam also has a dust devil movie and a cloud movie in this science block.

A little bit later in the afternoon, Mastcam will repeat its change detection image and do another couple of observations to measure the dust in the atmosphere. The change detection images will continue on into the evening, and MARDI will also take another image to see what has changed beneath the rover.