We received the data needed to plan contact science and a drive, and the
3-sol weekend plan is another full one. I was busy as MAHLI/MARDI
uplink lead, planning observations of a couple targets on an outcrop
right in front of the rover . On Sol 1191, MAHLI will acquire full suites of images of "Elizabeth Ray"
and "Pomona" before the APXS is placed on Pomona for an
afternoon/evening integration. During the integration, ChemCam and
Mastcam will observe bedrock targets "Messum" and "Karoo." After
sunset, the APXS will be placed on Elizabeth Ray for an overnight
integration. Early on Sol 1192, Mastcam will acquire another stereo
mosaic of the Namib dune (taking advantage of morning light) and a
single image of a ridge named "Paresis." Later that sol, the rover will
drive toward the southwest and acquire the usual post-drive data. On Sol 1193, ChemCam will acquire calibration data and Navcam will
search for clouds. Finally, early on Sol 1194 (before handing over to
the next plan) Navcam and Mastcam will search for morning clouds and
dust devils, and measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere by imaging
the Sun.



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.

Because of a problem with one of the DSN station antennas, the data needed to plan a drive today were not received, so the Sol 1189-90 plan is dominated by remote sensing observations. Neither driving nor arm activities are possible until the necessary images are

retransmitted. On Sol 1189, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the bedrock to the right of the rover , then Mastcam and Navcam will image the workspace in front of the rover to enable contact science to be planned on Friday . Early on Sol 1190 (when the lighting will be good), Mastcam will acquire a stereo mosaic of the "Namib" dune to the east. Later that sol, Navcam will search for clouds and ChemCam will perform a calibration activity.



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 successfully completing a mobility test last week (as seen by our wheel tracks through this sand patch ), Curiosity drove ~35 m toward a dune that is now named "Namib." We've accomplished a lot of reconnaissance imaging of the dunes, and we're looking ahead to monitoring the dune slipface and sampling the chemistry and mineralogy of an active dune. We've also acquired some beautiful close-up images of the sand grains, as seen in the above MAHLI image that just came down .

Today's 2-sol plan includes a targeted science block followed by a drive and post-drive imaging, and an untargeted science block on the second sol. Sol 1187 includes several ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the local bedrock at targets named "Rehoboth," "Hamilton_Range," and "Twyfelfontein." We're also testing out some software for autonomous target selection. Then we'll drive towards the "Namib" dune and take post-drive imaging to prepare for future targeting. Overnight, Curiosity will perform a SAM Electrical Baseline Test to make sure that the power and data interfaces are all operating smoothly. On the second sol we'll use ChemCam, Mastcam, and Navcam to monitor the composition and opacity of the atmosphere and search for dust devils.

By Lauren Edgar

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 rover has arrived at the edge of "High Dune" and we have
a very busy weekend plan studying the dune and then continuing to drive. On sol
1184 we will continue testing the AEGIS software that allows the rover to
fine-tune its targeting for ChemCam. After that, ChemCam will analyze two
targets "Barby" and "Kibnas" and Mastcam will take a 7x8 mosaic of a sand
ripple. In the afternoon, MAHLI will take some images of Barby and Kibnas, and
then APXS will take measurements of both targets. At night, MAHLI will be back
in action for some night-time images of Barby and then APXS will do a longer
overnight measurement.

On sol 1185, after driving the rover will collect standard
post-drive imaging, plus an 8x1 Mastcam mosaic. On sol 1186, the rover will
take some Navcam images to make sure sand from the dunes isn’t piling up on the
rover deck or damaging the camera lenses. Originally we were hoping to do some
atmospheric measurements on sol 1186 as well, but they were removed from the
plan because it was getting too complicated. We still have plenty of atmospheric science
planned for the early morning science block on sol 1187 though, including two
Navcam movies, a ChemCam passive sky measurement, and Mastcam measurements of
atmospheric dust. 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.

Today we are planning the last sol of the mobility test,
turning and backing out of the sand while taking multiple Hazcam images, then
pausing to take Navcam and Mastcam images of the wheel tracks. But first, Mastcam will take multispectral
images of a rock named "Narabeb" and a soil target dubbed "Kubib." The right Mastcam will also acquire another
2x2 mosaic of Secomib, to look for changes in the trench wall, and image the
spots where the APXS was placed on the sand.
The biggest challenge for me as SOWG Chair today was to prioritize the
post-drive data, as the volume of data expected to be received in time for
planning tomorrow is smaller than usual.
We’re hoping that the rover will drive close enough to " High Dune "
to allow contact science on the dark dune sand, so we’ll need good images of
the arm workspace. But we’re also
planning to drive again this weekend, so we’ll also need images in the
direction of the drive. It looks like we
will get just enough data to enable a full weekend plan, assuming that all the orbiter
and ground assets work as we’ve come to expect.

Later in the afternoon, the ChemCam RMI and right Mastcam
will acquire a small mosaic of an outcrop up on Mount Sharp, and both Mastcams
will image the ground in front of the rover.
Finally, the left Mastcam will acquire a mosaic of the ground and sand
to the right of the rover, and MARDI will take another twilight image. 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’s plan is focused on studying the results of
yesterday’s mobility test where we drove a little ways into a sand patch and
then backed out, leaving trenches where the wheels were. Yes, we’re disturbing
some of the very photogenic sand ripples that we have been seeing, but it’s for
a good cause: it teaches us more about how well we can drive in that sand, and
by using the wheels to make trenches like this, we can get a better idea of the
internal structure of the sand ripples.

In the Sol 1182 plan Mastcam has a 2x2 mosaic of a ripple
cut by the trench called "Sechomib", a multispectral observation of the left
wall of the trench at a target called "Hoanib", and a 6x3 mosaic of an outcrop
called "Aminius". ChemCam has two observations, one on Hoanib, and the other on
the far wall of the trench, called "Awasib". Mastcam will take documentation
images of both of these targets after ChemCam has finished.

Once the remote sensing is done, the rest of the plan is
focused on contact science on the sand, with MAHLI images of the undisturbed
sand, the walls of the wheel track, and the interior of the track. Then APXS
will make an overnight measurement of the track.

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.

Due to problems at the Goldstone DSN complex, the bundle of
command sequences generated for Sol 1180 could not be sent to MSL. So the rover performed minimal activities on
Sol 1180, as expected in "runout" mode. The
good news is that the rover’s batteries are charged up, and the engineering
team determined that activities can be planned after the heater table update by
avoiding the types of heating that are affected by the update. So the Sol 1181 plan includes the first part
of the mobility test: drive a few meters
into the dark sand in front of the rover ,
then back up enough to allow study of the rover tracks using the arm
instruments. During the drive, MARDI
will acquire many images of the surface behind the left front wheel, to
document the sand as it is disturbed by the wheel. After the drive and the standard post-drive
imaging are completed, ChemCam will observe its calibration targets, RMI and
Mastcam will image part of Mount Sharp in the distance, and Navcam will search
for clouds.

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 MAHLI wheel imaging planned for Sol 1179 completed nominally, and the initial assessment showed no broken grousers. The rover is now poised to begin testing mobility in the dark sand in front of the vehicle , but first a table used onboard to determine when heating is needed must be updated. No heating is allowed this sol after the update, which limits the activities that can be planned. So it was a relatively quiet day for the science planning team, with a Navcam search for clouds and ChemCam/Mastcam observations of a sandy ripple named "Khumib" and an outcrop dubbed "Abenab" early in the afternoon.



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 28 m drive on Sol 1174 ran successfully and Curiosity is now parked in front of a beautiful sand sheet and sand dune!

Today science and engineering teams cooked up a full 3-sol plan, to account for the second half of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The team started with equal parts Mastcam and ChemCam to analyze the sand and bedrock, and to monitor the movement of sand across the rover deck and in nearby ripples. The meat of the plan consists of SAM preconditioning, drop off of the "Greenhorn" drill sample to SAM, and an EGA (evolved gas analysis). Essentially that means that we’ll heat the sample up in an oven and measure the major gases that are released. Since this is a very power intensive activity, we kept the sides to a minimum. On the third sol we planned a healthy dose of MAHLI wheel imaging to monitor wear and tear. We also added in a handful of post-drive imaging activities since the wheel imaging requires us to move slightly and we want to have updated information for targeting. And we squeezed in an additional Mastcam change detection experiment to monitor the ripples on the third sol. Sprinkled throughout the plan are our standard RAD and REMS and DAN measurements. Add in a dash of excitement about the opportunity to study active dunes on another planet, and it’s sure to be a great weekend on Mars.

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of 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.

As many Americans are making plans for Thanksgiving, we’re making sure that Curiosity has plenty to do over the holiday weekend. On Sol 1173, Curiosity drove 45 m to the south, which put us in a great position in front of a small sandsheet and the stoss side of a large dune.

Today we’re planning 3 sols to cover part of the long weekend (we’ll plan an additional 3 sols tomorrow). I was the Geology Science Theme Lead today, and it was a real challenge to fit everything into the plan while staying within our power constraints. On the first sol, Curiosity will acquire ChemCam and Mastcam on a small patch of sand to assess its composition and morphology. Then we’ll drive further to the southwest, and take some Navcam images to prepare for future targeting. We’ll also run the first of several change detection experiments, to try to monitor sand movement in a small sandsheet. The second sol includes a number of environmental monitoring activities to assess the composition and opacity of the atmosphere using ChemCam and Mastcam. On the morning of the third sol, we’ll use Navcam to monitor the atmosphere and search for dust devils. In the afternoon of Sol 1176, we’ll perform another part of the change detection experiment to look for ripple movement, and we’ll acquire another Mastcam mosaic of the dune to our west to look for variations in ripple morphology. We’ll also perform some ChemCam calibration activities, a Mastcam mosaic of the local bedrock, a clast survey, and a Navcam atmospheric observation. Throughout the plan, REMS will be taking a number of observations, which should be very helpful to assess wind speeds as we monitor these dunes. Adding further complexity to the plan, CheMin will dump the "Greenhorn" sample and analyze an empty cell in preparation for upcoming sampling. After such a busy plan over the holiday, Curiosity will require some time to rest and recharge (sound familiar?). Safe travels Curiosity!

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of 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.