In order to have as much operational practice as possible, the science team started the field test as though they and the engineers had already accomplished sols 1 through 6.

In the first six sols, which were simulated by the team in the field, the rover "landed," took a 360° panoramic image, drove off the lander, traversed five meters, and took another series of images. This set of activities mimics what will happen during the post-landing and rover egress phase of the Mars Exploration Rover mission.

The science team started working with the rover on sol 7, using the data from the first six simulated sols to begin their planning and analysis.