As of today, Curiosity has reached an elevation that is 100 m above the Confidence Hills site, where we first encountered the Murray formation. That means that in the last 2 years we’ve climbed through 100 m of stratigraphy forming the base of Mount Sharp. This is amazing progress, and attests to an incredible thickness of primarily lacustrine sediment!

Today’s plan is focused on bumping to our next drill location as we continue to systematically sample the Murray formation. The two-sol plan starts with a Mastcam tau and crater rim extinction observation to measure atmospheric opacity. Then Curiosity will acquire several ChemCam observations of the targets "Sangwali," "Orapa," and "Katima Mulilo" to assess the composition of the local bedrock. We’ll also acquire two Mastcam mosaics to characterize the lamination style in the Murray. Then we’ll drive to the intended drill location, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for contact science and drill activities. We’ll also squeeze in a ChemCam calibration activity in the afternoon. Sol 1490 will be relatively quiet, with a Navcam observation to look for clouds above the north rim of the crater and a MARDI image to document the terrain post-drive. We’re keeping it light on data volume to prepare for all of the drill activities later this week.

Keep climbing Curiosity!

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.

While some of us enjoyed the Columbus Day holiday, MSL continued
working on Mars. The rover drove over 36 meters on Sol 1485, and another
drive is planned for Sol 1487. But first, ChemCam and Mastcam will
observe vein and bedrock targets named "Palapye," "Tutume," "Shoshong,"
and "Molepolole." The Right Mastcam will also acquire mosaics of
sedimentary structures exposed at "Tsandi" and of potential drill
targets at "Mowe Bay." After the drive, AEGIS will be used to select
two ChemCam targets and CheMin will attempt to clean a clump of the
Quela drill sample from its inlet funnel by vibrating it. Only a few activities are planned for Sol 1488,
including a passive DAN measurement and the usual background REMS and
RAD observations, so the rover batteries should be charged and ready for
Wednesday's 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 MSL rover made another 40 meters of progress up the flank of Mt. Sharp on Sol 1482, and there were multiple bedrock blocks within reach of the arm for the weekend plan. A smooth patch on a nearby block was selected for DRT brushing and associated imaging, and named "Serowe." The Sol 1484 plan also includes two dropoffs of the latest drill sample to SAM, a full suite of MAHLI images and short APXS measurement of "Tobane" on another bedrock block. That evening, the APXS will be placed on Serowe for an overnight integration. Early the next morning, Navcam will search for clouds and dust devils, and Mastcam will measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere. Later on Sol 1485, the arm will be stowed to allow ChemCam and Mastcam to observe Serowe and Tobane, and the Right Mastcam will acquire a mosaic of laminated bedrock dubbed "Masunga." Then another drive is planned, along with the usual post-drive imaging. AEGIS will be used to select a ChemCam target on Sol 1486, and Mastcam will again measure dust in the atmosphere. Finally, MSL will sleep in preparation for Monday's activities. 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 another 35 meters on Sol 1480, stopping at a location with a layered bedrock exposure right in front of the rover.
So the tactical planning team decided to take advantage of the touch
and go option again. MAHLI will take pictures of the layered target
"Cassongue" and of the rover wheels before the arm is stowed in
preparation for another drive on Sol 1482. ChemCam and Mastcam will
observe bedrock targets named "Coutada," "Cuangar," and "Cacuso," and
the Right Mastcam will acquire mosaics of more distant targets dubbed
"Lucusse" and "Lumeje." The Left Mastcam will be used to image the
wheels on the right side of the rover and to extend the coverage of the
terrain in the direction we plan to drive.

Because we don't expect to receive as much data as usual in time for planning on Friday ,
the volume and downlink priorities of post-drive imaging data had to be
carefully scrubbed. On Sol 1483, AEGIS will again be used to
autonomously select a target for a ChemCam observation. Navcam will
search for clouds and Mastcam will take an image of the rover deck to
look for changes in the distribution of dust and other debris. Finally,
the Right Mastcam will take a look toward the east and acquire a
5-image mosaic of the Murray Buttes in the distance.

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 12.5 meters on Sol 1478, to an area with lots of nodules in the bedrock .
The tactical planning team decided to exercise the "touch and go"
option, so the arm will be deployed for contact science before driving
away on Sol 1480. The plan is packed with a variety of activities,
starting with a short APXS integration and MAHLI imaging of a
nodule-rich target named "Oodi." The arm will then be moved out of the
way for ChemCam and Right Mastcam observations of Oodi and nearby
bedrock targets "Calenga" and "Caconda." The Right Mastcam will also
acquire images of targets dubbed "Chitembo," "Chingufo," and "Chipindo"
to investigate sedimentary structures in more detail, and of the rock
that AEGIS selected for autonomous ChemCam chemical measurements. Then
Mastcam will measure dust in the atmosphere before the next drive and
the usual post-drive imaging. Overnight, CheMin will analyze the Quela
drill sample again, to improve the quality of mineralogical
measurements. On Sol 1481, Navcam will search for clouds, AEGIS will
autonomously select a target for ChemCam observations, and the results
of the CheMin analysis will be read out of the instrument to the rover computer. Finally,
SAM will perform a maintenance activity before the rover gets some
sleep and recharges her batteries in preparation for the next 2-sol
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.

Everything went well in our previous plan and we are making
slow but steady progress over rough terrain toward our next drill location. We
should get there by next weekend!

Today’s plan starts off with a bunch of remote sensing on
Sol 1477. Navcam has an atmospheric observation, followed by ChemCam analysis
of the targets "Chadibe", "Bobonong", and "Dukwi". Mastcam will document those
targets once ChemCam is done with them, as well as the ChemCam AEGIS target
from yesterday. Mastcam also has a small mosaic of the target "Etsha" to study
its fine-scale layers, and a larger mosaic to extend the drive-direction pan
from Sol 1475. The Etsha mosaic will be repeated again later in the day. In the
evening, APXS will analyze the chemistry of the target "Caugula" and "Catumbela"
will be analyzed overnight. We will brush the dust off of Catumbela before the overnight analysis, and MAHLI will
take images of the targets to support APXS.

On Sol 1478, ChemCam has observations of Catumbela and "Francistown,"
with Mastcam support. Later in the day, ChemCam will do an automatically
targeted AEGIS observation and MARDI. Sol 1479 will be full of routine
engineering activities, so we didn’t plan any science blocks. 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

We're planning two sols, so it's been busier for me today as SOWG
Chair. The science team had a lot of good ideas for new observations,
so it was a challenge to fit them all into the plan, but in the end all
went well. On Sol 1475, the arm
will be moved out of the way to allow ChemCam and Mastcam multispectral
observations of the Jwaneng brush spot and an outcrop target named
"Munhango." The Right Mastcam will also acquire mosaics of targets
dubbed "Luremo," "Nata," and "Maun" before the rover drives away. In
addition to the usual post-drive imaging, ChemCam will autonomously
acquire chemical data on a target selected by the AEGIS software.
CheMin will analyze the latest drill sample overnight, and while the new
data are being read out the next morning, Mastcam will measure the dust
in the atmosphere, Navcam will search for clouds, and ChemCam will
acquire passive spectra of the sky. These atmospheric observations will
be repeated at noon to look for short-term changes. Finally, the rover
will get some sleep in preparation for what will likely be a busy
weekend.

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 16-meter drive on Sol 1473 completed perfectly, placing the
rover in position for contact science on an outcrop of cross-bedded
Murray bedrock .
The primary goal for Sol 1474 is to characterize the cross-bedding and
measure grain sizes using MAHLI, and we were able to squeeze in a lot of
other good observations. Before the arm is deployed, ChemCam will
measure the chemical composition of the "Kopong" bedrock target, Mastcam
will acquire mosaics of the Kopong outcrop and a couple of blocks behind
it, and Navcam will search for clouds. The arm activities start with a
full suite of MAHLI images of Kopong and a MAHLI mosaic of the left side
of the outcrop, dubbed "Utuseb." Then the DRT will be used to brush
off the "Jwaneng" target, with MAHLI images taken before and after the
brushing. The APXS will be placed 0.5 centimeter from the center of the
brushed spot for a short evening integration, then moved to the center
of the brushed spot for an overnight integration. Finding good contact
science targets that could be safely brushed and imaged was a challenge,
but the tactical team did a great job, making it an easy 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.

Over the weekend Curiosity drove 43 m to the south, in search of a good place for contact science. Unfortunately, our present location is in a small valley, and we don’t have many good rock targets in the workspace. After evaluating the Mastcam drive direction imaging, we decided to drive further to the southwest. This should put us in front of a small exposure of cross-bedding for contact science in tomorrow’s plan.

I was GSTL today, and after we decided to keep driving, the planning day was pretty straightforward. We’re in late slide sols, so we got a late start to allow time for more data to come down. The plan includes several ChemCam observations to characterize the composition of the local bedrock and soil. We also planned a number of Mastcam mosaics to document some potentially coarser-grained rocks, sedimentary structures in the rocks in our workspace, and a linear feature that we can compare with observations from orbit. Then we’ll drive toward our intended contact science target, and take post-drive imaging to prepare for the activities tomorrow. As our SOWG Chair pointed out, today marks the first day of Curiosity’s second Extended Mission, so it’s exciting to think about what we’ll accomplish in this next chapter!

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 drive went nicely and we are already about halfway to
our next drill site! Our original plan to head toward an outcrop called "Karasburg"
had to be changed because it turned out to be covered in sand and not very
steep, making it a less-desirable science target. So instead we are heading
toward a location where (we hope) the stratigraphy will be better-exposed.

For this weekend’s plan, we start out on sol 1470 with a
Navcam dust devil search and atmospheric observation, plus ChemCam of the
targets "Chiagne", "Chibemba", and "Chibanda". Mastcam will document those
three targets, as well as the location of the automated ChemCam observation
that was collected after yesterday’s drive. Mastcam also has three mosaics: a
6x3 of the Karasburg outcrop, a 4x1 of a location called "Longojo", and a 5x2
extension of the drive direction mosaic.

On Sol 1471, we will do a wheel checkup with MAHLI and then
drive, followed by the usual post-drive imaging. On Sol 1472 we have another
AEGIS automated ChemCam observation, a couple of Mastcam atmospheric
observations, and ChemCam calibration targets. 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