After a weekend full of contact science, remote science, and driving, Curiosity arrived at her next drill site within the Pettegrove Point member. Our previous two drilling attempts within the Pettegrove Point member haven't been as successful as we'd have hoped; the rocks in this area are much harder than we're used to - all the more reason to acquire and analyze a drill sample. We're hopeful that our third drilling attempt does the trick!

Today we planned two sols to kick off our drilling campaign. On Sol 2134 we will perform triage contact science observations to document our new drill target, which we've named "Stoer." We'll use our Dust Removal Tool (DRT) to brush away some of the surface dust over Stoer before imaging it with the MAHLI camera and performing chemical analyses with the APXS instrument. To prepare for drilling, we'll then perform a "pre-load" test, where we position the drill in contact with the Stoer rock surface and press down. This allows our mission engineers to verify that the rock is stable enough for drilling.

Later in the afternoon, we'll assess the Stoer area with a Mastcam mosaic and perform some environmental monitoring observations with Navcam. Finally, we'll place the APXS instrument on Stoer overnight to get a nice long chemical observation.

On Sol 2135, we planned a suite of remote science observations, including REMS, DAN, and Navcam atmospheric observations. After we move the robotic arm out of the way, we'll perform two ChemCam LIBS analyses: one on Stoer, the other on the target "Strontian," a nearby darker gray bedrock target. We'll document both targets with Mastcam images and use additional camera filters to analyze Stoer; we call this observation a "multispectral" observation. We'll end the day with a SAM electrical baseline test (EBT), which we periodically perform to monitor the SAM instrument's electrical functions.

Curiosity is currently preparing to bump to her next drill site in the Pettegrove Point member, but not before gathering many observations at our current location. There are interesting color variations in today's workspace, with grey, tan, and red gradients across the outcrop that can be seen in the above image. Curiosity will document these color variations in detail with images from Mastcam and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and chemical measurements from the ChemCam and Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instruments. This is a lot of data to relay, but we expect downlinks from both the Mars Odyssey and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecrafts over the weekend.

On Sol 2131, the geology theme group planned ChemCam measurements of the targets "Shiant Isles" and "Inchnadamph," which are grey-toned rocks. The observation on Inchnadamph is especially interesting because ChemCam will shoot two sets of 150 laser shots into the rock to see if there are chemical variations with depth. The APXS instrument will also make chemical measurements on a darker grey target "Mount Battock" and a lighter grey target "Scourie More," in addition to a red target "Dobbs Linn" which will be brushed beforehand with the Dust Removal Tool (DRT). All of these targets will be documented with high-resolution Mastcam and MAHLI images.

On Sol 2132, Curiosity will acquire a Mastcam multispectral observation of all these targets to enable a detailed assessment of these color variations. Mastcam will also image the "Bullers of Buchan" target, which is an outcrop that may expose layering and nodules. Curiosity will then drive a few meters to our drill site.

Sol 2133 is packed with three science blocks filled with activities from the environmental theme group: Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observations, Navcam zenith, suprahorizon, and dust devil movies, and Navcam line of sight observations. Curiosity will also make ChemCam passive measurements and an APXS atmospheric measurement. All of these observations will help with our ongoing monitoring of the atmosphere as the dust storm settles. After all of this, we look forward to seeing our drill workspace on Monday!

Curiosity is currently on her way to a potentially softer rock target to drill in the Pettegrove Point member of Vera Rubin Ridge. Today was a late slide sol, which means we had to wait until 11am PDT for the downlink to arrive. Unfortunately, we didn't get our downlink today from MRO. I was the SOWG Chair today, and it was an interesting morning as we had to quickly adjust the plan without knowing the current state of the rover. However, the team turned it around and made the most of the untargeted remote sensing sol. The geology theme group planned several autonomously targeted AEGIS observations of bedrock in the workspace, along with a Mastcam mosaic of the workspace and a Navcam mosaic of the ChemCam targetable region to prepare for targeting in the weekend plan. The environmental theme group took advantage of the day with two Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observations, a Navcam line of sight and dust devil movie, and Navcam suprahorizon and zenith movies. All of this great environmental monitoring data will help as we continue to assess the ongoing dust storm. Looking ahead, we hope to proceed with science activities and driving in the weekend plan with the help of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to relay data. Just another day and another challenge working on Mars!

On Sol 2128, Curiosity will continue toward our third potential drill site within the Pettegrove Point member of Vera Rubin Ridge, where we are hoping to find slightly softer rocks. The day will begin with ChemCam observations of the target "Slioch," which was already analyzed by APXS, as well as the layered rock "Craignure Bay." Mastcam will document both of these targets, using a small mosaic around Craignure Bay to capture images of some of the tilted rocks nearby as well. Then Navcam will do some atmospheric observations. After that, the rover will drive toward our next drill site and take some post-drive images. Navcam will do some more atmospheric measurements, and ChemCam will make an auto-targeted observation of the bedrock near the rover. We will finish off the plan with an 8-frame Navcam "movie" of the sky to look for clouds and measure the wind direction over Gale crater.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be close enough to do just a short bump to the drill site so we can try drilling again this weekend!

Curiosity completed its drive successfully after the science team regrouped from the incomplete drill, which required a different than anticipated weekend plan. The rocks of the Vera Rubin Ridge are just turning out to be harder than expected! In today's plan, we will continue to assess the compositional diversity of the Vera Rubin Ridge Pettegrove Point member. In this workspace, we planned activities for two contact science targets, with APXS and MAHLI imaging of the locations dubbed "Diabaig" and "Slioch". The Diabaig target has a purple hue in Mastcam imagery and appears to be relatively dust free, while the Slioch target is darker. The team could not find a suitable place to brush the dust away with a DRT activity since the local bedrock was extremely rough.

In addition to these contact science activities, multiple ChemCam observations were planned along with the Mastcam documentation images. These observations will complement the contact science activities. Over the next few days Curiosity will make its way to another location where we'll try to drill again. Data from when Curiosity previously visited the site where we will attempt to drill again indicates that the rock might be a little softer than where we last tried to drill a few sols ago. In the next few sols, we'll know more, but until then Curiosity will continue to characterize the diversity of the intriguing Vera Rubin Ridge.

Our attempt at drilling the target "Ailsa Craig" was partly successful: the drill behaved exactly as it was supposed to, but unfortunately we weren't able to drill very deep. The rock here is just too hard! Since we didn't get a nice deep drill hole, the plan for the weekend is to do some final observations at this location and then move on another location to try again.

The science block on Sol 2124 starts with a ChemCam passive observation of the pulverized rock tailings from our shallow drill hole. That will be followed by an "active" (laser zapping) observation of the vein target "LamLash Bay" accompanied by Mastcam multispectral images. Later in the afternoon, Mastcam and Navcam will do some atmospheric observations to monitor the dust levels as the planet-encircling storm gradually dies down. We'll wrap up the day with APXS observations on and off of the drill hole.

In the morning of Sol 2125 Navcam and Mastcam have more atmospheric observations. Later in the afternoon, ChemCam will also analyze the chemistry of the drill hole and tailings and Mastcam and Navcam will do some more atmospheric measurements, including watching for dust devils.

On Sol 2126, Curiosity will drive toward our next potential drill location. We'll collect the usual post-drive images to help us choose targets on Monday, as well as some more dust monitoring with Navcam.

Yesterday, the science team chose a new drill target, "Ailsa Craig," and we spent the day triaging the target with our contact science instruments, DRT, MAHLI, and APXS. The image above is one of the MAHLI images that we collected after the DRT removed some of the surface dust over the drill target.

Today, we're planning two sols. Sol 2122 is devoted to drilling the target Ailsa Craig! We'll collect some complementary observations to document our drilling activities with the Mastcam, MAHLI, and ChemCam RMI cameras. We'll spend most of Sol 2123 recharging, but we also managed to squeeze in a few additional science observations, including two ChemCam LIBS analyses on nearby bedrock targets "Tolsta Head" and "Appin." We'll also use Mastcam to document two nearby crater features named "Taconite" and "Peterhead." Finally, we'll conduct some standard atmospheric tau and crater rim observations.

Mars dealt us a winning hand today, yielding a sufficiently flat parking space after yesterday's short bump to allow us to proceed with our plan to drill in this part of the "Vera Rubin Ridge." Our current parking spot does not exhibit as strong a hematite signal from orbit as the site of our last drill attempt, but it still importantly provides an opportunity to sample the "Pettegrove Point" member of the Vera Rubin Ridge. Today we focused almost solely on characterizing the drill target, melodiously named "Ailsa Craig," using MAHLI and APXS after brushing it with the DRT. The rover will also place the drill in contact with the target and push into it to test the target's stability for drilling. If our luck continues, we will attempt drilling tomorrow! The science team managed to squeeze one observation unrelated to drilling into the plan - a single image of the sky to monitor the dust in the atmosphere.

Our weekend drive completed successfully and we have our next intended drill target attempt in the rover workspace. Unfortunately, the combination of the rover's pitch and roll would make future delivery of drilled sample to SAM via the new feed extended sample transfer (FEST) method impossible in our current orientation, so tosol we are going to scooch the rover over slightly to put it in a more favorable position for drill sample delivery activities.

The main activity for tosol is the small bump to get us into a good drill position. We also managed to get some science in before the bump. We will take a MAHLI image of "Sgurr of Eigg," a contact science target from almost 120 sols ago, to see how much dust has deposited on it since we DRTed it. We will also take some ChemCam passive spectra from another familiar target, "Appin," and then a Mastcam multispectral observation of both Sgurr of Eigg and Appin. We'll finish out the morning science block with a Navcam dust devil survey and get some additional environmental science monitoring in the afternoon, including a tau observation and image of the crater rim to the north.

Curiosity made great progress yesterday across the "Vera Rubin Ridge" toward the site of our next drilling attempt at "Sgurr of Eigg". In this weekend plan, we will collect more data about the ridge materials around us, and the sky above us, before embarking on a ~12 m drive to Sgurr of Eigg. We drove back into the Torridon quadrangle, so the target names once again have Scottish flavor. ChemCam shot three targets, each with a different characteristic. "Ben Stack" is a representative laminated bedrock target, "Ben Avon" is bedrock with small nodular features throughout it, and "Ben Lawers" includes a thin, resistant layer jutting out above the laminated bedrock surrounding it. APXS will also analyze a representative bedrock target, "Walsay," but for reasons beyond just the normal chemical characterization of a target. APXS will analyze Walsay at four different distances - from touching the bedrock surface to hovering 3 cm above it - to refine how distance to the target affects APXS data. There are instances when the bedrock is rough enough that APXS cannot be placed directly in contact with a desired target. By conducting this calibration activity at Walsay, we will be better able to understand and interpret APXS data acquired in just such a situation.

The dust storm continues to envelop Curiosity, so our plan includes observations aimed at monitoring the amount of dust in the atmosphere at both early morning and midday times. We planned a dust devil survey, and a pair of cloud movies aimed at the horizon and at the zenith. ChemCam also took aim at the sky with a passive spectral observation to monitor the aerosols and trace gases in the atmosphere.

After the drive on Sol 2119, the rover will unstow her arm before imaging the workspace, providing the team with an unobstructed view of our next drill attempt site. Hopefully, we will be able to hit the ground running with our drill plan on Monday!