Unfortunately, one of the drill diagnostics early in the
plan indicated a problem, which prevented most of the other activities for the
weekend (including the arm motion and drive) from happening. So that means that
for the Sol 1548-1549 plan the rover is still sitting at Precipice. In addition
to more drill diagnostics, ChemCam has a long-distance RMI mosaic of "Ireson
Hill", as well as two additional observations of the target "Blue Hill".
Mastcam will document the Blue Hill observations, and take an image of a butte
named "Oak Hill".

Meanwhile, the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting is
happening this week, so many scientists on the team (your trusty bloggers
included!) are either in San Francisco or on their way here. Tomorrow morning
is the main session discussing the latest Curiosity results, and there will be
a press conference at 11:30am (California time) that you can watch live ! 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

This morning we received downlink that indicated operation of the drill feed using standard commands. This is great news, and the anomaly response team has cleared the rover for use of the arm and driving (but not yet drilling). In today’s plan, we’ll wrap up work at the "Precipice" location and drive to a nearby site to investigate some interesting fracture patterns.

The 3-sol plan weekend plan starts with another Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere. This is followed by ChemCam observations of "The Anvil" and "Blue Hill" to investigate variations in chemistry in the Murray bedrock. We’ll also take a Mastcam mosaic to provide additional context for the "Precipice" site. In the afternoon we have a juicy arm backbone which includes MAHLI imaging of "Echo Lake," "Beachcroft," and "The Anvil," with a short APXS integration on "Beachcroft" and an overnight integration on "Echo Lake." This should return a great dataset to understand the chemistry and sedimentary structures here. On the second sol, Curiosity will acquire a ChemCam observation of "Western Head," an area that showed some unusual color variation. We’ll also extend the Mastcam mosaic of "Squid Cove" and take a couple of Navcam movies to monitor the atmosphere. Throughout the plan we’ll take several front and rear Hazcam images for additional change detection observations. There’s also an overnight SAM activity using the EGA, which makes use of the residual derivatization vapor in the sample manipulation system. Then on the third sol we’ll drive toward the region with fractures, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for possible contact science next week. It’s great to be moving again with a very full weekend plan!

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.

The plan for Sol 1544 includes remote sensing and additional diagnostics to resolve the drill feed fault. The plan starts with a Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere. Then we’ll acquire ChemCam observations of "Aunt Betty Pond" and "Kebo Mountain" to assess the composition of the Murray bedrock and veins. In the afternoon we’ll repeat the Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observations. We’ll also take a few more rear Hazcam images to monitor the movement of fines at different times of day. For more on the drill feed anomaly and our steps to resolve the issue, check out this recent press release . In the meantime, the science team is getting ready for the American Geophysical Union conference next week, so we had some great science discussion presentations that will be shared at the meeting next week! By Lauren Edgar --Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the MSL science team.

The
Sol 1542 drill diagnostics did not complete as intended, and as a
consequence, neither did some of the later science activities.
Therefore, those tests and
activities from Sol 1542 will be planned again on Sol 1543. But
first, ChemCam will shoot its laser at a target near Hunters Beach,
called "Bracy Cove," and at the bright layers just above The Anvil .
Late in the afternoon, ChemCam will perform a routine observation of its
titanium calibration target, the Left Mastcam will acquire a 5x1 mosaic
of "Squid Cove," and the Rear Hazcam will take another image to look for
changes due to winds. Overnight, SAM will perform an Opportunistic
Derivitization experiment on a sample from Cumberland that we’ve been
carrying since early in the landed mission. This
experiment has been some time in
the making and should improve SAM's ability to characterize the organic
molecules within that sample. Early in the morning of Sol 1544, Navcam
will search for clouds and dust devils, Mastcam will measure dust in
the atmosphere, and both cameras will re-attempt the photometry observations
that were planned yesterday.

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.

While investigation of the drill anomaly continues, more diagnostic
tests will be performed on Sol 1542. Again, no mobility or other arm
activities will be planned, so the science team added only remote
sensing observations. ChemCam will observe Hunters Beach
again to further investigate the the chemical variations that LIBS
measured there previously. ChemCam and the Right Mastcam will also
observe bedrock targets "Sargent Mountain" and "Youngs Mountain."
Finally, Navcam and Mastcam will take one more set of images at 8 AM on Sol 1543, to complete the photometry dataset started on Sol 1537.

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 weekend plan returned some great remote sensing data, including the above Mastcam image of "Ireson Hill" to investigate the stratigraphy exposed in a distant butte. While we work on assessing the drill fault, the team decided to devote today’s plan to remote sensing and change detection. The plan starts with ChemCam observations of "Hunters Beach" and "Gorham Mountain" to investigate the chemistry of the Murray bedrock. Then we’ll acquire a Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction image to characterize the amount of dust in the atmosphere, followed by a Navcam dust devil search. The plan also includes a series of Hazcam observations taken approximately every hour until sunset – this will provide a very thorough dataset to monitor the movement of sand based on time of day. This is really important for planning MAHLI observations, because we’ve noticed a lot of movement of fines through this area at this time of year, and we’ve mostly been taking MAHLI images with the dust cover closed to protect the instrument. If we can better understand when and where the sand is most active, we can better plan MAHLI observations, and we can improve our understanding of the eolian environment!

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.

The RPs are going to take a little more time to diagnose the drill fault before we drive or use the arm again, so today’s plan is focused on targeted remote sensing. We’re still at the "Precipice" site, assessing the composition and sedimentary structures in the Murray bedrock and carrying out some long distance observations. Today’s plan includes a long distance ChemCam RMI mosaic to monitor linear features observed from HiRISE and another RMI mosaic to investigate the stratigraphy exposed in a butte called "Ireson Hill." The plan also includes a Mastcam mosaic to search for fracture patterns in the vicinity of "Squid Cove," and a Mastcam clast survey for change detection. 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.

Unfortunately,
the much-anticipated rotary-only drilling experiment did not even start
due to a drill fault that is currently being investigated. This type
of drill fault appears to be unrelated to
the previous short circuits during
percussion, but more study is needed. So the tactical planning team
had to scramble to put together a plan while the drill experts work to
recover from this anomaly. Luckily, the fault did not preclude
non-drilling arm activities, so we picked the bright
target " Thomas Bay "
for contact science. We were also able to fit a lot of remote science
observations into the plan: A Navcam cloud movie, a Right Mastcam
mosaic of "Squid Cove," Mastcam measurements of dust in the atmosphere,
and a small Mastcam stereo mosaic of "Baldwin
Corners." At various times of day, Navcam and Mastcam will image the
ground toward and opposite the azimuth of sunset to measure the
photometric (light scattering) properties of the rocks and soils near
the rover. ChemCam and the Right Mastcam will also
observe bedrock target "Compass Harbor" and vein targets "Bartlett
Narrows" and "Birch Point." After drill diagnostics are performed, more
Mastcam dust measurements and images of "Hulls Cove" and "Big Heath"
are planned. It was a busy day for me and the
other MAHLI uplink leads, as we had to modify our command sequences to
take images with MAHLI's dust cover closed and find the best time to
take images in full sunlight. Since the fine-grained Sebina sample was
dumped, we are concerned about material blowing
onto MAHLI's lens and sticking to it. Finally, the APXS will be placed
on Thomas Bay for an overnight integration.

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 cross-contamination experiment and cleaning of CHIMRA went well, so we are ready to drill into the Precipice target !
Past drilling activities have made use of both rotation and percussion, but percussion has caused intermittent short circuits
occasionally since Sol 911,
so on Sol 1536 we will test the ability of the drill to
acquire a sample using rotation only, without percussion. We expect
that the Precipice target is soft enough that the experiment will go
well, but of course we won't know until we try! Drilling and associated
imaging will require enough power and time that additional observations
could not be added to the plan.

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
current drill campaign continues to go smoothly, and the Sol 1535 plan is
dominated by an experiment to see if any Sebina sample material is left inside the
drill bit chamber from the previous drilling. This is motivated by the
fact that we only used vibration to transfer that sample from the drill bit
assembly into CHIMRA, rather than also using percussion. So it’s a
"cross-contamination experiment" designed to see if the vibration didn’t do a
complete job back when we first drilled Sebina. Lots of images of
the sieve and other parts of CHIMRA will be taken to verify that the system is
clean. These activities will take a fair amount of time and power, but we
were able to squeeze a few remote science observations into the plan:
ChemCam will shoot its laser at bedrock targets named "West Tremont"
and "Eastern Head," and the Right Mastcam will image the same
targets. The Left Mastcam will also examine fracture patterns
at "Sawyer's Cove." Finally, Navcam will search for clouds
north of the rover. If all goes well, drilling will be planned tomorrow!

by
Ken Herkenhoff