Sol 1108: Limited data for planning

17 September 2015

The 16.6-meter drive planned for Sol 1107 completed as planned, placing the rover in front of the bright outcrop of interest. As expected, only a few post-drive images were received in time for Sol 1108 planning, which made it more difficult than usual to pick targets for remote sensing observations and driving. However, we found some bright blocks that the Rover Planners confirmed would be good targets for contact science, and plan is to approach and study them this weekend. But first ChemCam and Mastcam will observe nearby rock and soil targets named "Sphinx," "Houle," and "Utopia." After the short drive, we decided not to acquire the usual MAHLI stowed image and MARDI twilight image, as the view from MAHLI will not be

very different than the previous image, and we can't acquire the MARDI image when we would like because there will be a Mars Odyssey communications session at that time. We can acquire these images on Sol 1109 anyway. So it was an easy day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, and I helped pick ChemCam/Mastcam targets.



by Ken Herkenhoff