MISSION UPDATES | March 24, 2014

Sol 578 - 580 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Dedicated to Recovery

Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center


There was a minor problem with the Sol 576 imaging of CHIMRA that prevented the rest of that sol's plan from completing, and concerns about the safety of the remote sensing mast prevented uplink of the Sol 577 commands. So the rover did very little on Sol 577, but the tactical planning team on Earth had to scramble to recover the uncompleted activities in the weekend plan. After considering several possibilities, Sol 578 was dedicated to recovering all of the CHIMRA imaging and more that was originally planned to be done later. There was time to get some ChemCam observations before a bump to the outcrop on Sol 579, and Sol 580 was dominated by the large Mastcam mosaic of the outcrop that was originally planned for Sol 577.