Ryan and I are working ChemCam tactical operations
again today, planning 3 sols to get MSL through the upcoming weekend.
We therefore focused on planning Sol 939 ChemCam observations of " Live
Oak Canyon ,"

"Idyllwild," and "Blanco Mountain." Mastcam images of these and other
targets are also planned before 3 sets of MAHLI images of the wheels.
Two more sets of MAHLI wheel images will be taken on Sol 940 before the
rover drives south toward a rock dubbed "Kanosh."
Because less data than normal are expected to be received in time for
planning on Monday,
extra effort was put into prioritizing various post-drive datasets.
CheMin will perform another mineralogical analysis on the Telegraph Peak
drill sample overnight,
then Navcam and Mastcam will observe the horizon early on the morning
of Sol 941.
We are exploring the use of Mastcam to get
high-resolution measurements of dust and ice in the atmosphere. Later
on Sol 941, ChemCam will observe calibration targets on the rover, and
SAM will perform an
engineering diagnositc activity. by Ken Herkenhoff

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Interest in the dark and bright veins continues to
be high, so the Sol 937 plan is dominated by observations of these
features. But first, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the unsieved
Telegraph Peak drill sample dump pile. Ryan is ChemCam
science uplink lead today, and I helped him plan ChemCam rasters on the
dump pile and the dark material just right of center in this image .
APXS and MAHLI will also continue the investigation of the vein
materials, including a new target named "Live Oak Canyon." On Sol 938,
ChemCam will measure 3 different
targets, then Mastcam will acquire a large mosaic of the ridge
southeast of the rover. by Ken Herkenhoff

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Last Friday we planned some additional contact science at "Garden City." Unfortunately, an error resulted in the loss of contact science during Sols 931-933. A change needed in commanding is understood, and the rover is healthy and has not moved, so we'll be recovering that science this week.

Today's two-sol plan looks pretty similar to what we had planned for the weekend. Curiosity is still investigating the dark and
light portions of the veins at "Garden City." The plan includes MAHLI and APXS on the veins, and some ChemCam and Mastcam observations to look for variations in chemistry. Curiosity will also perform a number of environmental monitoring activities to measure atmospheric composition and opacity, and search for dust devils. Although we were disappointed that the weekend plan didn't execute as we had hoped, the images that we've received so far show that this is a complicated outcrop and very deserving of additional investigations!

By Lauren Edgar

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

While many of us in the northern hemisphere are celebrating the first day of spring, Curiosity is busy tending to her "Garden City." Sadly there are no flowers in sight, but the outcrop contains some beautiful veins. This MAHLI image from Sol 930 shows some of the complex relationships that we're trying to sort out . I've been the Geology Science Theme Lead this week and Ken Herkenhoff has been the SOWG Chair and MAHLI PUL, so the team here at the USGS has been very involved in planning contact science at this location.

Today we're planning 3 sols, during which Curiosity will acquire MAHLI and APXS on both the dark and light portions of these veins to better understand their texture and composition. We'll also acquire a ChemCam transect across one of the veins, to look for variations in chemistry. And Curiosity will stay busy overnight, working on the third CheMin analysis of the "Telegraph Peak" sample. In addition to these observations, Curiosity will perform a number of environmental monitoring activities to measure atmospheric composition and opacity, and search for dust devils. Next week we'll have to decide if we want to stay here at "Garden City" for further analyses, or continue driving down "Artist's Drive."

By Lauren Edgar

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

The MAHLI team was well prepared for contact
science today, but had to scramble to react to news early this morning
that the right front wheel is perched on a small rock and therefore is
not in a safe position for arm contact with the surface.
We had originally planned to brush a potential APXS target with the
Dust Removal Tool (DRT) and take MAHLI images of the brushed spot. But
the DRT activity had to be deleted, and MAHLI reconnaissance imaging of
another potential APXS target added to the plan.
This made for a hectic morning for me and the other MAHLI uplink leads,
but we are happy with how the plan turned out. On Sol 930, ChemCam and
Mastcam will observe an outcrop target named "Swasey" before the arm
will be used to acquire MAHLI images of the
bright and dark rocks shown in the lower left part of this image .
These MAHLI images will be useful in planning future scientific
observations. The APXS will then be placed close to a dark patch for
overnight integration. None of
the MAHLI or APXS activities includes surface contact, so they are safe even
with the rock under the right front wheel. Early on the morning of Sol
931, the left Navcam will be used to search for dust devils and clouds
as part of an ongoing experiment to determine
how these atmospheric phenomena vary with time of day. Mastcam images
of the terrain ahead are planned around noon,
followed by MAHLI imaging of another APXS target late in the afternoon.
Then the APXS will hover near the surface for another overnight
integration. Planning is "restricted" this week, so the next tactical planning will occur on Friday. by Ken Herkenhoff Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Over the weekend, Curiosity bumped closer to the target "Garden City" located in "Artist's Drive." "Garden City" is an intriguing target because it contains a lot of really big veins, captured here in this Mastcam image from Sol 926 .

Today's plan is focused on characterizing "Garden City" and getting ready for contact science on Wednesday. The plan includes ChemCam observations on the targets "Ouray" and "Hoskinnini" to characterize the composition of the light and dark parts of the veins, as well as several Mastcam multispectral observations. There are also several Navcam and Mastcam activities to monitor atmospheric opacity and search for dust devils. Furthermore, this plan includes several important SAM activities to
prepare for and analyze the previously acquired "Telegraph Peak" sample.

I'll be the Geology Science Theme Lead on Wednesday so I dialed in to the planning meetings to prepare for what is shaping up to be a very busy day of arm activities!

By Lauren Edgar

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Yesterday was a challenging day on Mars and Earth. On Mars,
the rover stopped its drive early because it detected that its wheels were
slipping in the sand, so we weren’t where we expected to be and we had to
adjust our observations accordingly. At the same time on Earth, some network
issues at JPL made it difficult for many of us to connect to the tools that we
use to do our planning. Luckily those issues didn’t start up until the planning
for Sol 924 was pretty far along, so we were still able to get a good plan put
together.

On sol 924, ChemCam analyzed a layered rock target called "Hennefer",
and Mastcam took a supporting image. Mastcam also took a mosaic of the outcrop
we are heading toward, called "Garden City", as well as a small mosaic of the
sand ripple (called "Tropic Ripple") near where we stopped, and a mosaic of a
tiny crater that we called "Hemicyon Basin."

After that, the rover continued on its drive toward Garden
City. After the drive, ChemCam did a calibration measurement, MAHLI took an
image from its stowed position, and Mastcam took a 2x1 mosaic looking back
across the floor of Gale crater toward the "Peace Vallis" alluvial fan. Mastcam
and Navcam also had some atmospheric observations, and Mastcam and Navcam also
took some standard post-drive mosaics.

This morning things were a lot smoother. We started off
planning ogling the beautiful images of the Garden City outcrop, which is
cris-crossed with erosion resistant ridges. The plan for sol 925 is to do a
ChemCam analysis and associated Mastcam mosaic on one of the nearby ridges
called "San Timoteo", along with a Mastcam stereo mosaic of Garden City. Later
in the day, ChemCam has an observation of a dark rock to test some focusing
settings on a very dark target. Then CheMin will do an overnight analysis on
the sample that it is currently working on.

On the morning of sol 926m ChemCam has some passive observations
of the sky, and Mastcam and Navcam also have some atmospheric measurements.
Then the rover will do a short drive toward Garden City, followed by standard
imaging plus some extra Navcams of the hill that is rising above us.

Finally on sol 927, Mastcam and Navcam have some more
atmospheric measurements.

Next week many of us on the science team will be at the
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, but we will also be eagerly checking in
on what Curiosity is doing at the tantalizing Garden City outcrop. by Ryan Anderson -Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

The plan for today, as our SOWG (Science Operations Working
Group) chair put it, is to "get out of Dodge"! We will be driving to a location
where we can do "full MAHLI wheel imaging" in the coming sols.

During the drive, the rover will stop long enough for
Mastcam to get an image of the drill tailings to document where we placed the
APXS overnight. We’ll also get a Mastcam image of a wind-blown ripple to see
what the grain sizes are. After the drive, we have Mastcam observations of the
candidate contact science target "Garden City" along with routine post-drive
images from Navcam. There will also be
several standard environmental monitoring measurements.

Tomorrow I’m on duty as the "Keeper of the Plan" for the
geology and mineralogy group and it looks like there will be time for lots of
remote sensing science from our new location, so it should be a busy day! by Ryan Anderson --Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Good news! We’re allowed to use the arm again! The engineers
have done all the diagnostics needed, and so today’s plan was dominated by arm
activities for science.

In the morning of sol 922, there is a short science block
during which ChemCam and Mastcam will analyze the target "Whitmore_2" on the "Newspaper Rock" outcrop to see if it is similar to the "Whale Rock" outcrop that we
studied previously. After that, the
rover will transfer some of the drill sample that it collected before the arm
fault into CheMin. Once the sample is inside CheMin and ready to be analyzed
overnight to figure out what minerals it contains, the arm will place APXS on
the pile of tailings near the drill hole. This will allow APXS to do an
overnight measurement of the chemical composition of the tailings pile. by Ryan Anderson --Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

The engineers on the team have been working hard to understand
the current fluctuation that caused the arm to halt on Sol 911, and they are expecting
to wrap up their diagnostics this week! In the meantime, we on the science
team have been keeping ourselves and the rover busy by using the remote sensing
instruments.

In the morning of the sol 921 plan, Mastcam has a 14x4
mosaic of the target "Newspaper Rock" and ChemCam will be doing a calibration
measurement and an observation of the "Telegraph Peak" drill hole. Navcam will
also do some routine monitoring for dust devils.

In the afternoon, ChemCam will analyze two gray vein-like
targets: "Old_Woman," and "Marsden" and Mastcam will take supporting images of
the ChemCam targets as usual. Navcam will then watch the sky and try to detect
any cloud motion.

We’ve been getting some great data but everyone is eager to
see the arm back in action soon so that CheMin can work on analyzing the sample
from Telegraph Peak and the rover can leave Pahrump and head toward our first
contact science target along "Artist’s Drive"! by Ryan Anderson --Ryan is a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the ChemCam team on MSL. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.