It was a busy day for the tactical uplink team, planning 3 sols to get MSL through the weekend. I was MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead, and focused on MAHLI imaging of the ChemCam window to determine how much dust is on it. We've taken such an image before when the window was in shadow, and wanted to try again with the window illuminated. We also planned MAHLI images of hardware on the remote sensing mast, to see if there are any signs of cable/fiber wear. Lots of ChemCam and Mastcam targeted observations are planned for Sol 598, followed by APXS and MAHLI observations on the outcrop in front of the rover. Then the rover will drive about 9 meters toward better outcrops, to get into position for more contact science next week. Finally SAM preconditioning and other activities are planned overnight to prepare for the next sample analysis.

Unfortunately, the set of commands sent to the rover for Sol 596 were not received, so the rover correctly responded by executing the runout sequence that is appended to every day's command bundle. After confirming that the rover is healthy, the tactical team sent an only slightly modified version of the Sol 596 plan to the rover for execution on Sol 597. Hopefully it will be received as usual, and the rover will drive toward the outcrops of interest.

The surface near the rover isn't very interesting, so planning for Sol 596 focused on driving toward the outcrops up to 50 meters away. During the drive, the rover will stop and acquire DAN, Hazcam and MARDI data on the striated unit before moving on. So it was an only slightly busier day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead. After the drive, Navcam and Mastcam images will be taken to allow an approach to the outcrop on Sol 597.

Mars is at opposition today, so Mars will rise at sunset and be visible all night here on Earth. On Mars, Earth is not visible because it is too close to the Sun.


The MSL Sol 595 plan is dominated by a drive along the edge of The Kimberley outcrop with Mastcam and Navcam stereo imaging at 4 locations along the way. Lots more Mastcam images will be taken after the drive, to help plan our exploration of The Kimberley. It was an easy day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead, as only standard MAHLI wheel images, a stowed image, and a MARDI twilight image were planned.

The rover will stay put on Sol 594 and acquire lots of ChemCam and Mastcam data on interesting nearby rocks . I'm not scheduled in a tactical operations role today, but I'm following along because I'll be MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead tomorrow.

Planning for the weekend focused on investigating the troughs in front of the rover with ChemCam, Mastcam and MAHLI, then driving about 12 meters along the edge of the Kimberley outcrop and taking mid-drive measurements of subsurface hydrogen (water ice) content with DAN and imaging the outcrop with Mastcam. Lots of data are being acquired, so extra attention is being paid to prioritizing various observations so that they are received in the order they are needed. It may be a while before all of the data acquired during this waypoint campaign are received on Earth.

MSL has arrived at The Kimberley waypoint! The Sol 590 plan was dominated by Mastcam stereo observations of the extensive outcrop in front of the rover. Overnight, SAM will perform a cleaning activity in preparation for new sample analysis. The Mastcam mosaics should be useful in evaluating potential drill locations.

Another successful drive on Sol 588, so another drive is planned for Sol 589 after Mastcam and ChemCam observations of a soil target named Chirup . If the ~30-meter drive goes well, we should be in position to acquire lots of images of The Kimberley , the waypoint selected for thorough analysis using all of the instruments. Therefore, post-drive images are planned that will allow a big set of images to be accurately targeted.

The rover drove about 22 meters on Sol 587, to a location with a better view of the path ahead . So a longer drive (about 45 m) is planned for Sol 588, around the rocky outcrop and then south. But first, a large stereo Mastcam mosaic of the outcrop will be acquired, plus smaller mosaics of targets Point Coulomb , Brooking Gorge , and Castlereagh Hill . After the usual post-drive imaging and DAN active measurement of subsurface hydrogen, ChemCam will zap the ground to the right of the rover and Mastcam will acquire a mosaic of the hill to the west of the expected rover location. This final mosaic will be pointed assuming the drive completes as planned.

All of the activities planned for the weekend went well, and lots of good data have been received, with more on the way. Planning is no longer restricted now that the local time in Gale Crater and Pacific time are more in synch. So drive progress toward The Kimberley is expected to be more rapid this week. I'm SOWG Chair again today, and planning is going relatively smoothly so far despite the fact that we added a ~20-meter drive after a full set of wheel images. It looked for a while like we would not be able to do any targeted remote sensing before the wheel imaging due to power constraints, but once again the engineering team did a great job and found a way to fit the desired Mastcam observations into the plan.