MSL drove almost 30 meters on Sol 1576, stopping in a location with a nice exposure of bedrock in the arm workspace.
MAHLI's optics look clean, so we planned a full suite of MAHLI images
and a short APXS integration on a bedrock target named "Mansell
Mountain." Fitting the remote sensing observations we wanted, along
with the contact science and a ~46-meter drive, into the Sol 1577 plan
was a challenge. But the tactical team did a great job, working
together to put together an excellent plan. After the contact science
is completed, ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe an odd cobble
called "Ames Knob" and a bedrock target dubbed "Day Mountain." Left
Mastcam will acquire a 2-image mosaic of the bedrock slab in front of
the rover, and Right Mastcam will take an image of the Sol 1576 AEGIS
target and a 4x1 mosaic of a layered exposure named "Appleton Ridge."
After the drive and the post-drive imaging needed to plan Sol 1578
activities, Navcam will acquire a panorama and search for dust devils
and clouds. It's been a busy day for me as SOWG Chair!

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.

MSL planning started 2 hours later than usual today because the Sol 1575 data needed for planning weren't expected until almost 10 AM PST. Unfortunately, the news was not good: An arm fault prevented the MAHLI
full suite from completing, leaving the camera close to the surface with its dust cover open.
The remote science and drive that were
planned to follow were also precluded. Fortunately, this fault has occurred before and is well understood, but recovering from the anomaly
made for a rather hectic day for me as SOWG Chair!
The first order of business was to get MAHLI into a safe configuration,
so the Sol 1576 plan starts with a single MAHLI image to look for
evidence of dust on the exposed optics. Front Hazcam images will be
taken before and after MAHLI is retracted from the
surface, then Right Mastcam will take a picture of MAHLI's optics,
again to look for dust contamination. Finally, the MAHLI dust cover
will be closed and APXS placed on Dorr Mountain for a short
integration. The arm will then be stowed and Right Mastcam
will acquire a 5x1 mosaic of a distant mesa named "Lobster Mountain."
ChemCam and Right Mastcam will observe Dorr Mountain and a bedrock
target dubbed "Parkman Mountain," and Left Mastcam will take another
image of the rover deck to monitor changes in the
dust and sand on the deck. Mastcam will also measure the amount of
dust in the atmosphere before the drive is attempted again. We don't
expect as much data as usual in time for planning the next Sol, so we
had to carefully prioritize the post-drive imaging,
which includes another Navcam stereo pair of the arm workspace. Later
in the Sol, ChemCam will autonomously observe a target selected by the
AEGIS software. Finally, the rover will recharge overnight to get ready
for more fun on Sol 1577.

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.

After a 25-meter drive on Sol 1574, MSL again has bedrock exposed in her arm workspace.
To balance desires to sample the composition of the rocks along the
traverse and to make good progress toward the south, contact science and
another drive are both planned for Sol 1575. First, MAHLI will acquire
a full suite of images of a knobbly bedrock target named "Dorr
Mountain." Then the arm will be stowed to allow ChemCam to observe the
same target and for the Right Mastcam to acquire a 5x2 mosaic of the
Dorr Mountain area. Navcam will search for dust devils before the drive
begins. After the drive, the arm will be unstowed to allow Navcam
stereo imaging of the arm workspace, in anticipation of another "touch
and go" plan tomorrow .

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.

MSL drove nearly 17 meters on Sol 1571, to a location with bedrock outcrops in the arm workspace.
So the weekend plan includes lots of arm work as well as remote
observations. On Sol 1572, MAHLI will take images of the REMS booms
to diagnose recent problems with the wind sensors. Some of the wind sensors on one boom have not functioned since landing, and sensors on the
other boom have been acting up lately . Later that afternoon, MAHLI will take a couple images of a
yellow/red color boundary at "Greenstone" and a full
suite of images of a yellow bedrock target named "Isle Au Haut." The
APXS will then be placed on Isle Au Haut for an overnight integration.
Early on the morning of Sol 1573, Navcam will search for clouds and
Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the
air by imaging the Sun and the distant crater rim. These dust
measurements will be repeated at two other times of day later that sol.
Later that morning, ChemCam will acquire passive (no laser)
observations of its calibration target. Then the arm will go
to work again to perform new diagnostic tests of the drill feed
mechanism, to help us understand whether the drill feed stall is more sensitive to rotary-only or percussive
drilling. The test data
acquired to date indicate an intermittent problem with the
internal brake within the motor that feeds the drill forward and
backward relative to the rest of the turret.
Fortunately, we
are able to do everything except drilling while the investigation
continues, but the team has decided not to try again to drill at
Precipice, and to continue driving up the flank of
Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp").

After
the drill tests, ChemCam will perform some more calibration activities,
and acquire LIBS data on Greenstone and a bedrock exposure called
"Birch Harbor Mountain." The Right Mastcam
will then image these targets and bright vein targets dubbed
"Tarrantine" and "Flying Mountain." On Sol 1574, ChemCam and Right
Mastcam will observe Isle Au Haut before the rover drives away. After
the drive, the arm will be unstowed and Navcam will take
a stereo pair of images of the arm workspace to set us up for possible
contact science on Sol 1575. It will be another busy weekend for our
intrepid 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.

The investigation of Old Soaker continues to go well, so we're
planning to drive away on Sol 1571. But first, ChemCam and Right
Mastcam will observe darker bedrock patches named " Gilley Field" and "Fresh Meadow" and a dark clast called " North
Bubble." Mastcam will also acquire a multispectral set of images of a
dark spherule dubbed "Greening Island" before the drive. After the
drive, the arm will be unstowed to allow Navcam and Left Mastcam to take
pictures of the area in front of the rover to aid planning for this
weekend. Navcam will search for dust devils and clouds, then the rover
will sleep overnight and recharge her batteries.

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.

The MSL operations team is back at work after the holiday break,
planning Sol 1569. The activities planned for the holidays executed
well, so we are proceeding with the investigation of the ridge/fracture
patterns at Old Soaker .
First, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the ridges at "Beech Mountain"
and Navcam will search for clouds. Then MAHLI will take close-up images
of a grey patch named "Eagle Lake" and a full suite of images of Beech
Mountain. MAHLI will also acquire images from 25 cm and 5 cm of an area
without ridge patterns dubbed "Hodgdon Pond" and another interesting
feature called "Huguenot Head," as well as a single oblique image of
"Squeaker Cove" from 15 cm. The APXS will be placed on Beech Mountain
for a short integration, then on Eagle Lake for an overnight
integration. Lots of good contact science to start the new year!
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.

Today was our last tactical planning day before the team takes a break over the holidays. But that doesn’t mean that Curiosity will be resting! A group of science team members and operations staff assembled an 8-sol plan that will execute over December 22-30, focused on environmental monitoring and change detection. Today’s tactical planning was aimed at creating a 3-sol plan that will take place over New Year’s, from December 31- January 2. When we return to normal operations on January 3, we’ll dive right back in to a campaign investigating some interesting fracture patterns at "Old Soaker," seen in the Mastcam image above. Today’s 3-sol plan starts with Mastcam multispectral observations of the targets "Old Soaker" and "Schooner Head" to assess their red and gray color variations. This is followed by a Navcam observation to search for dust devils. Then ChemCam will target "Moore Harbor" and "Northeast Harbor" to look for variations in chemistry. In the afternoon, we’ll use MAHLI to investigate the grain size and sedimentary structures at "Bar Island," Thompson Island," and "Mill Field," and overnight we’ll let APXS integrate on "Mill Field" and "Thompson Island." On the second sol, we’ll move the APXS to "Bar Island" for an overnight integration, along with a SAM electrical baseline test. On the third sol we’ll retract the arm to enable additional remote sensing of the workspace, including ChemCam on "Goose Cove," "Deep Cove," and "Dix Point," a small Mastcam mosaic, and some environmental monitoring observations. It should be a busy week for Curiosity, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of the exciting data that she’ll collect while the team is enjoying a break. It’s been quite the year for our rover: we have drilled six holes, performed two scoops, driven 3 km, and climbed 85 vertical meters! I can’t wait to see what 2017 will bring. This will be the last blog until January 3 when we resume normal operations. Until then – may your sols be merry and bright, and safe travels as you rove into the New Year! By Lauren Edgar --Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

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.

Our short drive over the weekend went well, and we are now
at a new location with plenty of science targets to choose from. It’s been quite
a while since we had a plan with this many new target names! The Sol 1555 plan
starts off with a remote sensing science block. Navcam and Mastcam both have
atmospheric observations, and then ChemCam will analyze four targets: "Somes Sound",
"Schoodic Peninsula", "South Bubble", and "Schooner Head". Mastcam then has a
bunch of mosaics covering the targets "Old Soaker", "Squid Cove", "Sieur de
Monts", "Goat Trail" and "Bald Peak".

Later on Sol 1555, we are planning a short "bump" to
position the rover for possible contact science. After the bump, we’ll collect
some post-drive images to help with targeting. On Sol 1556 Navcam has an
atmospheric observation to watch for clouds, and on Sol 1557 we have a routine
engineering diagnostic activity for the Hazcams, but otherwise Sols 1556 and
1557 are pretty quiet. 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 engineering team is still hard at work diagnosing our drill issues, but in the meantime we are still getting good science done. The Sol 1552 plan starts off with ChemCam observations of the targets "Hall Quarry" and "Long Porcupine". Mastcam will document those targets and then do a multispectral observation of "Western Head". Mastcam also has an image of the rover deck, and Navcam will watch for dust devils. There will also be some drill diagnostics on Sol 1552. After sitting in the same spot for so long, it will be nice on Sol 1553 when we retract the arm and drive to an interesting area about 10 meters away. After the drive we are planning post-drive imaging and a MARDI image of the ground under the rover. Sol 1554 is an untargeted sol, with Navcam and Mastcam atmospheric observations. 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

Use of the arm and driving remain off limits while the drill continues to be diagnosed. The 2-sol plan starts with ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of bright vein targets dubbed "Bear Brook" and "Canon Brook." MARDI will take images during both morning and evening twilight to look for changes due to winds. Remote sensing on Sol 1551 will include ChemCam, Navcam and Mastcam observations of the sky and Sun at a couple times of day, and a set of ChemCam calibration activities. Meanwhile, the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco is going well, with lots of interest in Mars rover results, especially from Curiosity . About 26,000 geoscientists are attending the meeting, with speaches today by California Governor Jerry Brown and U. S. Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell. It's been an exciting week so far! 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.