MISSION UPDATES | March 29, 2014

Sol 585 - 586 Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Back to Nominal Planning

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


MSL planning will transition from restricted to nominal next week, so the weekend plan includes only 2 sols, 585 and 586. The first sol is dominated by contact science, mostly MAHLI imaging of areas of the outcrop that have not yet been observed by MAHLI. Targeted remote science is planned on both sols, with APXS and CheMin activities overnight. As SOWG Chair today, I was very busy working to squeeze all of these good observations into the plan. We couldn't fit everything we wanted, but very close! On Sol 586, the rover will bump back from the outcrop in preparation for another full set of MAHLI wheel images. MAHLI has been very busy the past few days, and not done yet!