Sol 2027-28 update by Scott Guzewich: A Change of Season (20 Apr 2018)

This was a week of transition for Curiosity's environmental science team. The cloudy season on Mars has ended as we've seen a marked decrease in water ice cloud activity in our Navcam sky movies over the last several weeks and we're moving quickly into the dusty season on Mars. We will now be drastically reducing the frequency in which we search for clouds and instead focus our attention on dust devils and storms. The atmosphere is beginning to get dustier, as seen by the hazy look of the northern rim in Gale Crater in this image. Indeed, we began preplanning our annual campaign to study a potential global dust storm, if and when such a storm develops this year. The dusty season on Mars, roughly the second half of the martian year, runs from the end of May until February next year, and we'll be monitoring closely for the signs that a global dust storm (the last of which occurred way back in 2008!) is developing.

But today on Mars, routine business continued as we performed a "touch-and-go" plan with MAHLI images of rock targets "Hawick", "Kemnay", and "Buchan", before driving toward our next destination. On the second sol of the plan, we planned two movies to look for dust devils and two more Mastcam image sequences to monitor the (increasing) amount of dust in the atmosphere as we move toward southern spring equinox.

Sol 2029-2031 update by Abigail Fraeman: Booking it Through Biwabik (20 Apr 2018)

Curiosity drove a whopping ~85 m to the northwest in the sol 2027 plan. Besides being long, this drive was remarkable because it marked a shift in Curiosity's strategic campaign: we have officially finished our initial reconnaissance of Vera Rubin Ridge, and we are beginning our journey down off the ridge, heading north into an area where we would like to test the rover's drill. The guidance from the team is now "drive, drive, drive!," while still doing as much opportunistic science as we can along the way of course.

With the sol 2027 drive, we have also officially entered the Biwabik Quad. You may recall we flirted with the boundary of this quad back on sol 2004-2007 and 2009-2012. Biwabik is a city in the United States in northern Minnesota that is connected with the Mesabi Range. This range contains a vast iron deposit, so we felt it was a perfect choice for the hematite-rich area we are currently exploring. (Hematite is an iron-rich mineral). Entering a new quad means we have a fresh set of target names to choose from, which added some fun to our morning planning. One of the names we chose, "Babbitt," is named after a city of ~1,500 residents about 30 miles away from Biwabik. Our Flagstaff-based team members also liked this name because it was reminiscent of the famous Babbitt Brothers who made a name for themselves as cattle ranchers in Flagstaff Arizona in the early 1900s.

We planned 3-sols today. In the first sol, we will have a morning remote sensing block with ChemCam observations of rock targets "Ely," Babbitt, and "Hibbing." These observations will be accompanied by Mastcam documentation images. We will also take a Mastcam mosaic and some multispectral frames of a nearby crater, and we have named this feature "Taconite." The remote sensing block will be followed by MAHLI and APXS observations of Babbitt. In the second sol of the plan, we will take a morning dust devil movie and use MAHLI to look at our wheels and document any punctures that may have formed over the last few hundred meters of driving. This will be followed by short drive along our strategic route with post-drive imaging activities that will set us up for a touch and go on Monday. The third sol of the plan is all about monitoring the Martian environment. We will take an overnight measurement with APXS to understand the Argon abundance in the atmosphere (it varies seasonally), and spend the morning taking a zenith movie, horizon movie, crater rim extinction imaging, and tau measurement. We will also use the ChemCam instrument in passive mode to take a spectrum on the atmosphere around noon. It will be a fun and busy weekend on Mars!

Sol 2032-2033 update by Abigail Fraeman: The Rocks vs. Stone Cold Aluminum Wheels (23 Apr 2018)

Curiosity drove a little over 16 m to the west this weekend. The rover is currently skirting around the southern edge of a small, blocky impact crater on its way north off the Vera Rubin Ridge. One of the activities we did this weekend was use MAHLI to take images of the rover wheels. We do this activity, dubbed Full MAHLI Wheel Imaging (or FMWI in NASA acronym speak), every few hundred meters to track damage to Curiosity's wheels caused by the terrain. It's important for us to take this observation in order to estimate how much farther the rover will be able to drive before the wheels become inoperable, and also to understand if the sharp edges of the broken wheels risk damaging the nearby cables. So far, we estimate we're in pretty great shape for our plans to drive a lot farther up Mt. Sharp!

For the last few years, we've been actively working to mitigate wheel damage in several ways. JPL engineers developed some smart driving algorithms called "traction control" that reduce forces on Curiosity's wheels as the rover climb over rocks. Geologists like myself also help by planning drive paths over terrain that is safer for the wheels. We do this on a sol-to-sol basis in tactically staffed roles known as Surface Properties Scientist (SPS), which is what I did today. Strategically, we also work with the orbital datasets to predict what the terrain ahead will look like, and we use these predictions to choose long-term paths that will be easiest on the wheels without sacrificing science. If you look closely at the rover pathfrom the last few sols in the orbital data, you may notice we've been driving along terrain that looks darker and bluer in this false color image compared to the nearby bright, tan rocks. This path corresponds to terrain that is filled with pebbles and hard-packed sand, and we think it's a little nicer for the wheels than the bright bedrock, which can sometimes have sharp edges. The geologic term for these sharp edged rocks is ventifacts, and they are formed by wind erosion over millions of years. While they probably won't hurt the wheels too much, we'd prefer to avoid them when possible.

Today we planned two sols. We'll start the first sol with MAHLI and APXS observations of a bedrock target named "Pokegama." The contact science is followed by some time for remote sensing, which includes a Mastcam mosaic of the nearby crater named "Taconite," and a single image of interesting looking rocks named "Winton," and "Cuyuna." We'll also have ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam documentation images of Pokegama and "Kenora." After the science block we'll have a short drive followed by post-drive imaging and a ChemCam AEGIS observation. In the second sol of the plan, we'll take a Navcam dust devil movie and second AEGIS observation.

Sols 2034-2035 update by Mark Salvatore: Descending Vera Rubin Ridge (25 Apr 2018)

Curiosity is continuing her march to the north and west, descending through the stratigraphic layers exposed in Vera Rubin Ridge and working her way back towards the unit known as the Blunts Point member, just below the ridge. Curiosity will continue her investigation of each of these stratigraphic layers, filling in all of the details necessary to interpret the geologic history of this region.

Until then, the science team is keeping Curiosity busy with additional measurements to better interpret the local and regional geology. In today's two-sol plan, Curiosity will begin with a 1 hour and 40 minute science block dedicated to studying the exposed rocky material in front of the rover. The science block kicks off with ChemCam measurements of surface chemistry using the onboard laser and spectrometers. The targets include "Mesabi," a textured rock towards the left-front wheel, then "Wakemup Bay," which appears to be in-place bedrock, and finally "Midway," a long and narrow rock in front of the rover that has potentially been broken apart by the small impact crater (named "Taconite crater"), to the north of Curiosity. ChemCam's high resolution camera will then be used to image a rock on the western rim of Taconite crater (named "Logan") at very high resolution to see if it shows any interesting features associated with the impact cratering process itself. Mastcam will then be used to image the surrounding area, including all of the ChemCam targets that were analyzed. In addition, a multispectral image suite will be obtained of Taconite crater's nearby ejecta field, as a way to determine whether the composition of the ejecta blocks are at all variable, which may indicate that the subsurface geologic units differ in composition from those closer to the surface. Stay tuned!

Following this science block, Curiosity has a ~48 meter drive planned to the northwest, which would result in another 10 meters or so of decreased elevation as we near the Blunts Point member. Standard post-drive imaging activities will then occur, obtaining images of the landscape surrounding the rover for both scientific and engineering purposes, as well as a MARDI image of the terrain immediately below the rover's belly.

The next sol, Curiosity will use her automated targeting capabilities to retrieve chemistry measurements of a nearby bedrock target. Following a nap and a quick chat with one of the Mars orbiters, Curiosity will then have one additional science block that is dedicated to environmental monitoring, including measuring the atmospheric dust concentration and searching for dust devils. This will then bring us to Friday, when the science team will plan for a weekend of activities and a drive that will have Curiosity once again head downhill.

At this location in Gale crater, the team is naming targets after locations in northeastern Minnesota. The names chosen today are perfect to use while we're still on Vera Rubin Ridge, as the Mesabi Range is part of Minnesota's Iron Range, a series of Precambrian (i.e., old!) sedimentary units that are enriched in iron. These areas were heavily mined in the early 1900s, and were an important part of Minnesota's economy at this time. Currently, this area is still being mined for low-grade iron ore known as "taconite" (hence Taconite crater!), a sedimentary rock with significant amounts of iron and other mineral phases. Kudos to today's science team for the relevant names!

Sols 2036-2037 update by Michelle Minitti: Down the ridge she comes (27 Apr 2018)

Curiosity continues to pick her way downhill off the "Vera Rubin Ridge" and onto the Murray formation rocks below. This weekend's plan only covers two sols, to give Earth planning time and Mars time a chance to realign so that the science team is not up in the middle of the night commanding the rover. The two sols, however, are still chock full of activities. The rover is positioned on a rock-strewn sandy slope, and the science team thought the scattered rocks of the workspace would be better interrogated with Mastcam and ChemCam than MAHLI and APXS. ChemCam targeted "Virginia," a tan bedrock slab with small nodules, "Shannon Lake," a red bedrock slab, and "Eveleth," a block with distinctive layers. One of the advantages of driving backward is that rocks the rover has driven over end up in view of the remote sensing instruments. Mastcam acquired multispectral data from a rock broken by the rover wheels, the target "Britt," and an expanse of crossbedded ! outcrop, "Aurora," to the left of the rover. Mastcam completed imaging of the "Taconite" crater structure, which the rover has been skirting around the last several sols, with a large mosaic, and captured a single image of a well-preserved scarp in the sand amongst the rocks dubbed "Kinney."

While MAHLI did not see any action over rock targets today, she will image the REMS UV sensor, positioned on the rover deck. Such MAHLI images keep track of dust accumulation, supporting the observations of the sky made by the sensor. The sky itself will get attention from Mastcam and Navcam, with observations of dust in the atmosphere and dust devils at midday, and observations of dust in the atmosphere and clouds in the early morning.

After a ~50 m drive, Curiosity ought to be positioned within sight of two prominent vertical outcrop faces farther east along the Vera Rubin Ridge. These are high interest targets for imaging for next week, as the team hopes they provide further insight into the structure and formation of the ridge itself. After the drive, CheMin will conduct an empty cell analysis, a move in preparation for what the team hopes is acquisition and delivery of a new drilled sample in the not-too-distant future.

Sol 2038 update by Rachel Kronyak: Enjoying the views (30 Apr 2018)

A successful drive in the weekend plan set Curiosity up nicely for a full sol of contact and remote science. The main priority during planning today was to image the outcrop we've called "Red Cliff," a beautiful vertical cliff face seen in the mid-field of the Navcam image above.

We'll use both the ChemCam RMI and Mastcam to image Red Cliff, which will give us a really nice, well-rounded dataset in order to fully characterize the features and sedimentary structures present in the outcrop. Aside from imaging, we'll assess some local bedrock targets. With ChemCam LIBS, we'll analyze targets "Paulsen Lake," "Negaunee," and "Nashwauk." With MAHLI and APXS, we'll perform additional analyses on Nashwauk. Finally, we'll do some standard ENV activities, including REMS, DAN, and a tau measurement. During a tau observation, we use Mastcam to measure the optical depth of the atmosphere. This is particularly useful for understanding the scattering properties of the molecules and particles that are present in the martian atmosphere. Happy Mars Monday!

Sol 2039 update by Rachel Kronyak: All eyes on "Red Cliff" (1 May 2018)

Following some fantastic preliminary imaging from yestersol, today's plan (Sol 2039) is dedicated to additional imaging of "Red Cliff" before continuing to drive toward a location where we think we are likely to drill. We have a short science block to start the day, during which we'll use Mastcam to take some context imaging of our surroundings and upcoming terrain. We'll then use the ChemCam RMI to extend our coverage of Red Cliff, similar to the black and white image above. These RMI images give us a really great opportunity to study small-scale stratigraphic details in rocks that are pretty far away from the rover.

Following our science block, we'll perform a drive and take our standard sequence of post-drive images to set us up for tomorrow. We'll take a dust devil movie with Navcam as well as a post-drive AEGIS observation to collect some preliminary geochemical information at our next location. We also have standard REMS and DAN activities to round out another great day on Mars!

Sol 2040 update by Ryan Anderson: Go West, Young Rover (3 May 2018)

Our drive from Sol 2039 was successful, and the plan for sol 2040 is to continue driving to the west. Before we do that, ChemCam will analyze the bedrock target "Prairie Lake" and the loose rock "Gowan". Mastcam will take a single image to document both targets, as well as an image of the autonomously-selected target observed after the sol 2039 drive. Mastcam also has a 9-frame mosaic of an interesting crack in the soil near the rover. The targeted science block will wrap up with a Navcam movie to watch for clouds over Mt. Sharp.

After the drive, in addition to our normal post-drive imaging, Mastcam will observe the sun and the crater rim to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere. ChemCam will do another autonomously-selected observation and we'll wrap up the day with a MARDI image of the ground under our wheels.

Sol 2041 update by Michelle Minitti: mmmmmm….science (3 May 2018)

Curiosity continued her journey off of the "Vera Rubin Ridge," driving west along the ridge flank toward a passable route down to the bedrock north of the ridge. Her stop today may have been brief, but it was ehhhhhhxcellent. ChemCam will acquire ten spot rasters across "Homer Lake," a finely-layered bedrock block, and "Barto Lake," white sulfate vein material pasted to the side of the Homer Lake block. After ChemCam shoots Homer Lake and Barto Lake, Mastcam will collect multispectral data from both targets, giving Mastcam a view of the areas cleared of dust by the laser and providing complementary data to the ChemCam analyses. Mastcam will feel at home imaging "Terrace Point," a set of bedrock blocks with distinctive surface textures. Navcam will search for dust devils both before and after the drive.

The MAHLI and APXS teams did not have a cow about the lack of contact science in the plan, as the 25 m drive is aimed at a nice expanse of bedrock for the upcoming weekend plan. If the drive does not go as planned? D'oh!

Sol 2045 update by Abigail Fraeman: Purple Coleraine, Purple Coleraine (7 May 2018)

The drive planned on sol 2045 will take Curiosity off of Vera Rubin Ridge and back into the broken-up rocks that comprise the Blunt's Point member of the Murray formation. But don't panic Vera Rubin Ridge fans, we plan to climb back onto the ridge and head to points beyond after we get a chance to test the drill down in Blunt's Point.

We are planning to start the sol 2045 plan with a remote sensing science block that has several ChemCam observations and associated Mastcam documentation images. The targets are "Blackhoof," a vein with potential darker inclusions, and "Bovey," a red-hued rock in the work area. Also, since we're currently using names from Prince's home state of Minnesota, why not two purple ones: "Coleraine", a purple-hued rock in the work area and "Soudan," a specular purple rock next to Coleraine.

Sol 2046 update by Mark Salvatore: The best laid plans... (8 May 2018)

As Curiosity continues to descend the Vera Rubin Ridge, the science team is doing their best to characterize, for a second time, all of the structural, chemical, and spectral variations originally seen as we climbed up the ridge. Yesterday's drive brought Curiosity from the "Pettegrove Point" member of the VRR into the "Blunts Point" member, which is just below the ridge itself. So, the team was planning to spend a full day at this location to perform remote science investigations, to brush off a rock surface, to analyze the surface's chemistry with the APXS instrument, and to take some high-resolution oblique images to characterize the layering observed in the sides of the rocks. When the team woke up this morning and first saw the workspace in front of the rover, everyone was happy and eager to get to work!

However, a stroke of bad luck prevented the science team from performing most of these analyses. About half-way through planning this work, the science team got news that the rover was not only sitting at a rather steep angle (~17 degrees relative to horizontal), but that one of the wheels was also propped up on a loose rock. In order to play it safe and to minimize any risk that the rover would lose its balance when the arm was extended to perform many of these analyses, the rover planners and the science team decided to forego any arm activities and, instead, plan only a short science investigation and to "bump" to a nearby rock to try again tomorrow for a full surface characterization. While these decisions are momentarily disappointing, they are relatively frequent and necessary to ensure that Curiosity will be able to perform her job many years into the future. We certainly don't want to take any unnecessary risks!

So, instead of the plethora of science activities originally planned for the day, Curiosity will instead only make a handful of measurements before pivoting and driving a few meters away to the next location for tomorrow's attempt at surface science. Today, Curiosity will use the ChemCam instrument's laser-induced breakdown spectrometer to measure "Grand Lake," a block of the Blunts Point member that appears to have the typical properties seen earlier in the mission, as well as "Mud Lake," which is a piece of bedrock broken by Curiosity's wheels that revealed a bright brick-red color on its inside (the sunken rock in the middle of the following Hazcam image, wedged between the raised rocks: https://go.nasa.gov/2KLEawF). Mastcam will follow up with documentation images as well as a multispectral image of Mud Lake to see what sort of spectral and mineralogical variations are the cause of the bright red coloration. Curiosity will also perform several environmental monitoring measurements, including a search for dust devils and an atmospheric opacity observation. Following her short drive, Curiosity will then perform standard post-drive imaging in order to get ready for tomorrow's day of surface analyses.

Sol 2047 update by Scott Guzewich: Bump Take 2 (9 May 2018)

In Curiosity-speak, a "bump" is a short drive the rover performs to better position itself for a particular science investigation (often contact science with the rover's arm). Yestersol's plan intended to include such a bump to reach a suitable target for contact science, but unfortunately the drive did not execute. Today's planning aimed to recover this drive and reach a target for contact science in the next plan. You can see from this Hazcam image that the ground is full of bedrock plates and tilted rocks, one of which Curiosity is standing on, which prevented contact science at the current location. The image also shows the northern edge of the Vera Rubin Ridge (from the upper left corner of the image extending horizontally across the upper portion of the frame). Curiosity will continue to head northward away from the ridge (toward the right side of the image) to find a target suitable for drilling.

Today's science plan was necessarily limited and will include post-drive imaging, a dust devil movie, and routine REMS and DAN environmental monitoring.

Sol 2048 update by Ken Herkenhoff: Successful Bump (10 May 2018)

Today is the third and final day that I'm serving as SOWG Chair this week at JPL, and I was happy to see that the bump we originally planned for Sol 2046 completed successfully on Sol 2047, placing the rover in a good position for contact science on a couple of bright blocks in front of the rover. So we're planning to brush two targets on the larger block, named "Bilbert" and "Giants Range," before MAHLI images them and APXS measures their chemistry at night. Before the arm activities, ChemCam will shoot its laser at Giants Range and targets "Vermillion" and "Lac La Croix" on nearby blocks. Because the stowed arm partly blocks our view of the part of the arm workspace closest to the rover, we'll acquire a Navcam stereo pair and a single Left Mastcam color image of that area after the arm is deployed. These images will be useful in planning more contact science this weekend.

Sols 2049-2051 update by Lauren Edgar: Onward and northward (11 May 2018)

Curiosity is currently investigating the Blunts Point member of the Murray formation, and searching for a suitable location to drill in the near future. I was the SOWG Chair today, and we put together a busy weekend plan focused on wrapping up contact science at our current location and driving further north into the Blunts point member.

The plan starts with a ChemCam water adsorption experiment to look for seasonal variations in hydrogen in the soil at different times of day. On the first sol we also planned some juicy contact science: a MAHLI "dogs eye" image looking edge-on at the "Culver" target (seen in the above Mastcam image) to assess the relationship between veins and bedding, followed by DRT, MAHLI, and APXS on typical bedrock at the "Floodwood" target, and additional MAHLI and APXS on the "Carleton" target to look for variations in chemistry. Just as Curiosity wraps up the overnight APXS integration on "Floodwood," we'll put her back to work with another early morning ChemCam water adsorption observation. Around midday on the second sol we'll take several Mastcam multispectral images to document the Sols 2048-2049 DRT targets, along with a ChemCam passive sky observation and documentation images of the ChemCam targets. We'll also acquire ChemCam LIBS on the target "Mountain Iron" to assess the composition of dark nodules. The third sol is focused on a ~10 m drive to the north and post-drive imaging to prepare for contact science or bumping to a drill location next week. We were a bit tight on data volume in this plan due to some small downlink volumes lately, but hopefully by keeping our data appetite in check we'll be in good shape for the exciting activities coming up soon!

Sol 2052 update by Scott Guzewich: We've Been Here Before (14 May 2018)

We expected to start planning today examining a new location within arm's reach (or a very short drive's reach) of a possible location for our next drilling attempt, but instead found images like this. Rather than driving almost 11 meters, Curiosity only drove about 1/2 meter before stopping. So, we found ourselves looking at images of previous wheel tracks and contact science targets rather than a new location.

The priority for today was therefore to recover that drive, which left plenty of time for some additional targeted and untargeted science. This included ChemCam LIBS rasters of "Brownell" and "Mahtowa", additional Mastcam images of "Munger" and "Itasca", and a Navcam dust devil movie. Following the drive, Curiosity will conduct a ChemCam AEGIS activity and a longer version of a Navcam dust devil movie. We often schedule dust devil movies closer to midday, when dust devils are more common, but it's important to also observe at other times of day to understand their frequency and patterns.

Sol 2053 update by Rachel Kronyak: Bump to "Duluth" (15 May 2018)

A successful drive on Sol 2052 brought Curiosity within bumping distance of what will likely be our next intended drill target. The science team named this target "Duluth." Duluth is a beautifully exposed Murray formation block visible in the Navcam image above. From our current location, we have a really nice vantage point of both the top and sides of the Duluth block. Analyzing blocks that have this kind of 3-D expression gives us a great opportunity to assess the full architecture of the rock.

Today we planned Sol 2053, which includes a science block prior to our bump. In the science block, we'll acquire several ChemCam LIBS rasters on targets "Pine Mountain" and "Windigo," both of which are located on the Duluth block. We'll also take some Mastcam images of Duluth to document the ChemCam observations and to provide some additional context on the vertically exposed sides of the block.

ENV has a couple of observations in the plan as well, including DAN measurements and a dust devil survey with Navcam. After our bump, we'll take some post-drive images to set up for an exciting drilling campaign over the next several sols!

Planning Sol 2054 update by Abigail Fraeman: Duluth at our feet... er, wheels (16 May 2018)

Our sol 2054 plan was limited by a small morning downlink. Occasionally, the flight paths of the Mars orbiters over Gale Crater don't have favorable geometries for relays with Curiosity, and this means our data downlink passes are smaller than average. Today we received only 1.6 MB (Megabytes) of data at the start of our planning day. This was just enough to tell us the drive executed successfully and the rover was healthy, but not enough to include any new images from our current spot. We did get another (also small) downlink several hours into planning, which gave us the first view of our drill target smack in the middle of our workspace - a rock we are calling "Duluth."

Since we didn't have images available at the start of the planning day to choose science targets, we will spend most of sol 2054 completing "untargeted" activities. We will collect data from the ChemCam calibration target, take pictures of the sky with MAHLI (sky flats), snap a photo of the rover deck with Mastcam, and squeeze in one LIBS target that will be chosen autonomously by the rover using the AEGIS software. We will also make observations to characterize our environment and the dust in the atmosphere, including a Mastcam tau observation and images of the crater rim, and Navcam images of the sky and horizon.

We will also image Mars' moon Phobos passing in front of the sun around 8:30 in morning of sol 2055, before we handover to the new plan. We've taken Phobos transit images several times before (i.e. https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/4805/phobos-transit-viewed-by-opportunity-on-sol-3078/), and these data help us better constrain the orbit of this small, potato shaped moon.

Sol 2055 update by Roger Wiens: Drill Site Perspectives from a Duluth Native (18 May 2018)

I was excited to learn earlier this week that my native city was chosen as the name of the latest drill site on Mars! The name was selected by geologists on the mission to recognize the Duluth Complex, one of the largest intrusions of gabbro on Earth, along the north shore of Lake Superior. But, as the team likes one-word names, we are just calling the drill site "Duluth." The name was almost changed yesterday when it was realized that "Duluth" was already used for a ChemCam target on Sol 292. Normally we don't use names more than once, but the team decided an exception was warranted.

Duluth, my birth city, was at one time the busiest port in the United States in terms of gross tonnage, surpassing even New York for a while. It is still considered the largest freshwater port in the world even though it is one of the farthest inland, at 3770 km from the Atlantic Ocean. Duluth has one of the coolest climates in the US due to its proximity to the world's largest and one of the deepest freshwater lakes. The drill target "Duluth" on Mars was also once near the shore of a large freshwater lake. Its climate is also relatively cool, so the name is apropos.

The Curiosity rover is commencing its drill sequence with a full suite of contact science characterizations today. It will start with a touch of the target by the arm just off to the side of the planned drill site (documented by Hazcam and Navcam), then an APXS observation and then MAHLI observations of the "Duluth" target at 25 cm. After that there will be a pre-load drill test, which will be documented by the imagers. MAHLI will image the site at 35 cm along with imaging the location where the arm did its touch. The Dust Removal Tool (DRT) will brush the target, after which Mastcam will inspect the brush and the brushed surface, and MAHLI will document the brushed target at 25, 5, and 1-2 cm distances. The 5 cm distance will support a stereo pair of images. APXS will be placed for an overnight observation of the target. Navcam and Hazcam will document most of the arm instrument positions over the course of the day. Mastcam will take a Phobos transit video near sunset. RAD, REMS, and DAN will monitor the environment in the background. If all goes well, the uplink team will work on the drilling commands tomorrow.

Sols 2056-2058 update by Michelle Minitti: Poised (21 May 2018)

This weekend, Curiosity will attempt to sink the drill into the complexly-layered "Duluth" block. Before that, she will gather more data from the "Blunts Point" member rocks in front of and around us. The Duluth target, neatly cleared of dust by the DRT in yesterday's plan, will be observed by ChemCam's passive mode and Mastcam's multispectral mode to gauge what iron mineralogy was hiding beneath the target's thin veneer of dust. ChemCam will shoot three targets to learn more about the chemistry of the layers within the Duluth block and similar blocks around it. Within the Duluth block, ChemCam will target "Chisholm," the delicate layer curling up above the top of the Duluth block, and "Aitkin," another layer jutting out from the side of the block. The "Buhl" target sits off to the rover's right and represents another example of the Blunts Point member for ChemCam to sample. Mastcam will then image two large blocks dubbed "Kabetogama" to learn more about the intricate layering of the Blunts Point member. Before drilling, Curiosity will also give the sky some attention. Images and movies acquired in the early morning will measure dust and look for clouds, while images and movies at mid-day will measure dust and look for dust devils. REMS and RAD will gather data regularly as the weekend progresses.

The second sol is the centerpiece of the plan, when we attempt to sink the drill into the Duluth block. Before drilling, MAHLI will capture "before" images of the drill target, and MAHLI and Mastcam will image the areas where different portions of a drill sample could be dumped both before and after sample delivery to SAM and CheMin. Then, drilling commences. Once the drill hole is created, ChemCam will image the hole with its RMI to set up for shooting the laser down the drill hole in subsequent sols, and Mastcam and Navcam will image the post-drill workspace.

The engineers have worked incredibly hard to invent a new way to use the drill, as highlighted in this recent story. Their ability to work around the problem from afar and give us another chance at drilling is very much in the spirit of NASA's engineers designing fixes to the systems of Apollo 13 as the spacecraft hurtled, crippled, to the Moon. Although the stakes are different for MSL, the ingenuity is the same. The science team has been wondering what minerals might be responsible for the layers, veins and nodules in the Blunts Point rocks. A successful drill will mark the first step in answering that mystery. Suffice it to say, the whole MSL team - scientists and engineers - will be waiting with bated breath for the data that reveal if the drilling was successful. Success will feel very much like *finally* getting to open that shiny birthday present after a long, enticing wait!

Good luck, Curiosity!

Sol 2059-2060 update by Mark Salvatore: Characterizing a Successful Drill! (23 May 2018)

This past weekend, Curiosity successfully drilled into the "Duluth" rock target, generating a beautiful pile of drill tailings! This is a very exciting time for us on the rover team, who have been waiting for quite a while to successfully drill into a target and to ingest samples into the rover's analytical instruments. Before we are able to use all of our instruments, however, we must first characterize the nature of the materials that were collected during the drill activities. So, on Monday, the science team planned for the characterization of three small portions of the collected sample that were to be dropped onto the surface in front of us so that we could image these materials at high resolution. While these efforts were not primarily driven by science (the rover engineers were more interested in the nature of the sample and whether there would be any difficulties in delivering the sample to Curiosity's instruments), the science team didn't dare miss an opportunity to make some cool measurements of the new materials in front of us!

First up in Monday's plan was multispectral imaging of the drill target and some regular visible imaging of a small patch of sand ripples named "Esko." The drill target observation was requested to help determine how the interior of the Duluth target differs from its surface, while the imaging of Esko was used to see if there is any motion of the Esko ripples over time. ChemCam was then used to passively image the drill hole, and then to actively characterize the chemistry of the drill hole and drill tailings using its laser instrument. Mastcam and ChemCam imaging capabilities were also used to acquire high-resolution images of the small test portions throughout the plan. The next day's science plan had two Mastcam observations - one of the small portions and one of the Esko ripples - both of which were designed to identify whether the wind had modified these surfaces at all. Environmental measurements were also made on the second day to search for both cloud motion and dust devils.

We're all very excited to continue on with drill activities and to make some long awaited measurements. Stay tuned for more updates as the week progresses!