Today we are continuing the drill campaign at our red Jura target "Rock Hall." The focus of this weekend's plan is the dropoff of the Rock Hall sample to the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) instrument, which will occur on Sol 2281. During the delivery process, Curiosity will open one of the SAM inlet covers (pictured above) and the rover arm will deposit a portion of the fine rock powder from the drill bit. SAM will then incrementally heat the sample up to very high temperatures and the gases released by this heating process will be analyzed to better understand the chemical and mineralogic components of Rock Hall. The SAM results will be extremely important for complementing the chemical observations from APXS and ChemCam, as well as the recent mineralogic results from CheMin.

There was also plenty of time for other science observations in addition to SAM. On Sol 2282, we will survey for dust devils with Navcam, and will also take ChemCam measurements of the Rock Hall drill hole to fill out our suite of data for this drill target. On Sol 2283, we planned two science blocks, starting with an early morning block dedicated to atmospheric monitoring activities. Afterwards, we will take ChemCam measurements of "St Cyrus," a workspace target intended to continue our documentation of bedrock in this area, and "Gometra," a target that may be a meteorite candidate. We will also be taking a Mastcam right camera image of "Gruinard Bay," which is a displaced slab that was identified in the Mastcam left camera images as having edges with interesting textures and color variations; the higher resolution of the Mastcam right camera will allow us to take a closer look at these textures and the interactions between this slab and the regolith around it.

Overall, this was a pretty smooth planning day today, especially for me as the Geology Keeper of the Plan, and we're looking forward to seeing the results from SAM soon!

Today was a very smooth planning day on Mars, with the first scheduled science block in the plan being entirely filled by various spectroscopic ChemCam observations. The ChemCam instrument has the capabilities to be used in both passive and active modes, both of which were included in today's plan. ChemCam active observations, which require shooting a laser at specific rock targets and analyzing the resulting plasmas, will be acquired for "Coatbridge" and "Pitscurrie," two small rock outcrops in the rover's vicinity. Altogether, these observations will help us determine the spectral characteristics of the local geology, and the associated Mastcam documentation images of Coatbridge and Pitscurrie will provide geologic context for these measurements. The second scheduled science block, which coincided with an extended stretch of REMS monitoring, was dedicated to environmental observations such as Navcam movies looking for dust devils and clouds.

The two Chemcam documentation images included in the first science block were the only Mastcam observations planned today; a large Mastcam mosaic designed to image some upcoming features on Mount Sharp was pushed into Wednesday's plan. Wednesday's plan will also be influenced by a forthcoming decision from the members of the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) team, who are working diligently to analyze data acquired over the weekend and will soon make a decision as to whether additional samples are desired before we leave the Rock Hall location.

A Front Hazcam image taken on Sol 2282 shows part of the landscape around the rover, including some of the rocks that will be analyzed further with ChemCam.

The holiday planning completed successfully and included 10 sols of five-hour-long morning meteorological observations by REMS, during the period when more complex activities were precluded. The main goals for the Sol 2279-2280 plan were to catch up on our other regular atmospheric monitoring activities, which were largely on hold over the holidays, and to prepare for drop-off of the "Rock Hall" red "Jura" drill sample into SAM for analysis.

A dust devil 360° image search and 30-minute movie pointing to the south-west were added in the late morning on sol 2280, with REMS covering the same time period; this allows us to see if any of the dusty vortices found by imaging coincide with vortex-like (sharp, short-lived) pressure drops in the REMS pressure data. In addition, the atmospheric column opacity, as well as the amount of dust between Curiosity and the crater rim, were measured in the morning and afternoon, with morning and afternoon 'cloud search' movies added too, plus regular RAD and DAN passive measurements.

To look for surface changes indicating wind strength and direction over the holiday break, we also added Mastcam imaging of targets "Luskentyre" and "Fishertown" at ~15:30 on Sol 2280, to match imaging of them at the same time (and hence the same lighting conditions, making it easier to spot changes) on Sols 2266 and 2276. The three images of each target will be analyzed to look for changes in position of sand grains or ripple crests (such as those seen in the image of "Luskentyre" from sol 2276) over the intervening sols.

SAM pre-conditioning during this plan would normally have been joined by a ChemCam passive measurement of the drill hole, but as this is a big measurement the ChemCam team recommended re-imaging the target first, in case the rover had shifted a little over the long break. So an RMI of the Rock Hall target was added in this plan, with the full ChemCam measurement postponed until the imaging has been assessed. In addition, to build up statistics on local bedrock variability, we added ChemCam passive measurement of targets "Port Askaig," "Portnockie" and "Bothwell."

As we cross the winter solstice and daylight lengthens here on Earth, the Vera Rubin Ridge campaign on Mars is shortening up towards a science-filled end 'capturing the light' across all its splendid spectrum. On sol 2276, the plan includes a CheMin analysis to illuminate the drill sample "Rock Hall" in X-ray light, staring at the plasma glow from the ultra violet through the visible into the near infrared (what you see with your eyes and slightly beyond) from ChemCam on bedrock targets "Auchenheath," "Firth of Forth," and "Port Charlotte" as well as a panchromatic (artsy black and white) RMI mosaic of the large white vein "Hopetoun." All these targets also get viewed in their red-green-blues (i.e. color) using Mastcam. Additional change detection Mastcam images are planned for targets "Fishertown" and "Luskentyre" to see how the soil moves around in the thin martian atmosphere. Navcam will make a 'movie' (multiple frames taken close in time) of dust devils dancing across the flat Aeolis Palus plains including a line-of-sight observation to record atmospheric dust density. Mastcam will stare wistfully at the crater rim to help characterize dust and a solar tau observing aerosol (i.e. dust and such) scattering properties in the air. Some pragmatic Navcam sky flats taken on sol 2277 help monitor camera lens cleanliness along with Rock Hall CheMin data sent home as a parting gift from 2018. On New Year's Eve, a ChemCam Passive observation (no laser) will ring out the evening and another in the predawn hours of sol 2278 for the first observation of the New Year! The second day on the new Earth year has Curiosity gazing out into the distance, perhaps thinking of its science resolutions to get to the clay flats just to the south, with Navcam line-of-sight (LOS), suprahorizon, and cloud-watching zenith movies, as well as a Mastcam solar tau, crater rim extinction, and sky survey observations. Happy New Year to all as we welcome more Mars science to come in 2019!

Mastcam Left image of the "Rock Hall" drill hole, red Jura slab surrounded by sand-filled polygonal troughs.

Planning today revolved around making sure that Curiosity has enough power after the Christmas holidays to be able to continue analyzing "Rock Hall," the red Jura sample that we successfully drilled last weekend. We planned and uplinked 1 sol (sol = martian day) of science and diagnostic activities and 10 sols of REMS to take us through to the end of December. Tomorrow, our final day of planning before the MSL team takes a break for the holidays, we will plan Sols 2276 - 2278 to execute on Mars before the team here on Earth returns to nominal planning activities.

The priority was to facilitate diagnostic testing of the B-side computer to help assess the rover anomaly we experienced a few months ago (see this description of the anomaly). The diagnostics require Curiosity to be awake for long periods of time, which drains her battery, and does not leave much power for other activities. Because of this, although we had tentatively planned some ChemCam LIBS and RMI observations of rock targets in the workspace, as well as some Mastcam and Navcam environmental activities, we were unable to fit them into the final plan. We were able to include some Mastcam change detection images of a couple of the sand-filled polygonal troughs in this area ("Luskentyre" and "Fishertown"), to monitor how the wind moves sand around, as well as a Navcam deck pan to observe the rover deck. Standard DAN passive and DAN active, RAD and REMS activities round out the plan.

We are still very excited and happy that the final drill hole, "Rock Hall," on Vera Rubin Ridge was successful over the weekend. Now we get to analyze the drilled sample with rover instruments. We are planning one sol today, and the big event will be delivering some of the Rock Hall sample to the CheMin instrument.

Additionally, ChemCam LIBS is planned to target the drill hole to understand the chemistry, and a Mastcam 360-degree mosaic is planned to document the surroundings around the drill hole.

Although the drill was successful over the weekend, a few of the remote science observations were not obtained. To recover some of those observations, today we plan to retake the "Lairig Ghru" Mastcam observation that will document layering near Curiosity.

At the end of last week, the team made the call to drill the rock "Rock Hall," and Curiosity had no problems drilling the target. The science team had been worried that this rock type, red Jura, might be particularly hard based on the observation that it commonly caps the highs on Vera Rubin Ridge. However, the drill reached its full commanded depth on our first attempt, and we are celebrating!

Today, the team planned a portioning test to make sure that there is sample powder in the drill and that it comes out in reliable volumes when Curiosity shakes its arm. This is the next step before delivering sample to the CheMin instrument for mineralogical analysis. The rover planners included an extra portioning activity consisting of sample delivery to one of SAM's sample inlets with the cover closed. Based on prior SAM data, it appears that samples delivered to SAM are smaller than those delivered to the ground. By delivering sample to the closed inlet and then imaging the result, the team can get a better estimate of sample volumes delivered to SAM. This extra test will help us better plan future sample deliveries to SAM.

Tosol's plan also includes ChemCam analyses of the drill hole and tailings, in addition to the rock target "Arnage." Mastcam will image Arnage as well as the sample portions dropped from the drill. Environmental monitoring fills out the plan.

Although drilling proceeded without a hitch, there was an issue with the Remote Sensing Mast near the end of the weekend plan, and the Mastcam mosaic of "Lairig Ghru" was lost as were two environmental observations. The engineering team evaluated the issue and concluded that it is safe to proceed with use of all instruments. The loss of these activities was identified late in planning due to a delay in data delivery, so they were not replanned today. They will be captured in future plans.

Rock Hall is our 19th drilled sample of Mars and the last one we are planning for Vera Rubin Ridge. We are really pleased with the outstanding data Curiosity has collected for us here, and many team members are preparing abstracts to present results at the annual Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference early next year.

In our last plan, we carried out triage activities on the red Jura target, "Rock Hall," including APXS of the target to determine composition, and engineering tests to assess the stability of the rock and its hardness, both of which would affect our ability to drill.

It was decided that this would be a suitable candidate, both geochemically and physically, so today's plan will centre around the drilling of what will hopefully be our 19th drill sample for analysis on Mars!

On sol 2260, MAHLI will take a series of images to characterize locations chosen by the rover planners as the areas in which they would eventually like to dump excess sample generated by the drilling. The drilling itself will take place on the morning of the second sol (sol 2261).
Once this has completed, in the afternoon of sol 2261, ChemCam will do passive analysis (i.e., no LIBS, or laser) of the drill tailings, and image the drill hole. Both will be done "in the blind" (without confirmation images), based on where the rover planners estimate their likely location to be. We will also acquire Mastcam multi-spectral analysis of the drill tailings.

The Environmental theme group requested some Mastcam atmospheric measurements, to be run in the morning and the afternoon of sol 2262. In addition to the afternoon environmental activities, Mastcam will document layering in a hill called "Lairig Ghru." Standard REMS and DAN passive activities are spread throughout the three sol plan.

The "Rock Hall" (right) and "Cluny Hill" bedrock slabs from our Sol 2256 parking spot

The drive around to the north side of "Rock Hall" in yesterday's plan was successful, placing us at a lower tilt and with room in the workspace to place all the piles of sample we drop on the surface (purposely!) in the aftermath of drilling. Yesterday's observations of Rock Hall gave us confidence that we were at a promising red Jura target for drilling. ChemCam rasters across three different targets on Rock Hall indicated the slab had chemistry and spectral character consistent with red Jura. Mastcam images focused on the slab demonstrated that while it was dusty in flatter areas, and covered with scattered, loose gray and red pebbles in others, the slab had the red, shiny appearance we associate with red Jura. This placed us farther down the path toward drilling red Jura than we had been with any of our previous sites!

Today's plan focused on characterizing the would-be drill target. The loose pebbles on the Rock Hall slab precluded use of the DRT, so we will acquire ChemCam, MAHLI and APXS on the unbrushed drill target itself. We will also push the drill into the target, called a pre-load test, to assess the suitability of the Rock Hall block for drilling. Whether or not we see a mark from the drill in the target after the pre-load test will give us some idea of the hardness of the drill target. The science team will scrutinize the mark from the drill (or lack thereof) carefully as a predictor of the likelihood of drilling success.

We also had time to gather data from other targets of interest both on and around the Rock Hall slab. We will acquire MAHLI and APXS on "Corrieshalloch Gorge," a slightly less dusty (and thus redder) portion of the Rock Hall slab, while we will shoot "Cluny Hill," a target on a rubbly, heterogeneous neighbor of Rock Hall, with ChemCam. Mastcam multispectral observations of "Gometra" will give us further insight into this candidate iron meteorite target, of which we have had surprisingly many in this part of the "Vera Rubin Ridge." We will image "Marsco," a small sand-filled depression that might represent a small impact crater, with Mastcam. Navcam will scan the skies for clouds and dust devils and DAN passive and active observations for H will ping the ground under our new parking spot.

May the (drill) force be with us!

Even on Mars, where every second of Curiosity's sol is planned, things don't always go quite as expected. This morning we learned that Curiosity didn't complete her planned drive yesterday and instead stopped at the mid-drive point. We had to decide whether to finish the remainder of the previously planned drive, or bump towards a red Jura candidate and potential drill target in today's plan.

After some thoughtful discussion, we decided to make the most of where Curiosity ended up, and planned a bump toward the nearby target "Rock Hall" (located to the right of centre in the image above). Targeted ChemCam LIBS and Mastcam multispectral observations were then planned to characterize Rock Hall and confirm if it's a member of the red Jura. Tosol's bump will have Curiosity set up for drilling and in position to test the hardness of Rock Hall with a drill pre-load test and ChemCam LIBS tomorrow, if need-be. Unfortunately, the amount of pebbles on top of Rock Hall will likely prevent our ability to use the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) on the surface, but that doesn't mean that it can't be drilled.

In addition to the targeted Mastcam and ChemCam activities mentioned, a 360° Navcam dust devil survey rounded off a 1 hour science block to try and catch some late morning dust devils.