Curiosity conquered
the hill on Sol 991, and we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Marias Pass. The 22 m drive on Sol 991 brings our total odometry to 10,556 m.

In today’s plan, Curiosity will acquire ChemCam and Mastcam observations on the targets "Elk" and "Bull" to characterize the bright bedrock and a nearby boulder. We’ll also take several Mastcam mosaics to document the local stratigraphy. After a short drive we’ll acquire additional Mastcam images to capture the contact between the Stimson and Pahrump units. The plan also includes standard post-drive imaging, as well as DAN and
REMS activities. 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.

After assessing a few different drive paths to deal with the challenging terrain, the team decided to drive uphill to avoid crossing the ripples near Jocko Butte. On Sol 990, Curiosity drove 52 m back towards Mt. Shields, which puts our total odometry at 10,533 m.

The goal of today’s plan is to climb uphill towards an interesting geologic contact. It’s the same contact that we would have seen in Logan Pass, but the path through "Marias Pass" looks a little bit shorter. Today’s plan also includes ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the target "Petty," and Mastcam documentation of "Apikuni Mountain" and Mt. Shields to characterize the local geology. After the drive we’ll acquire some standard imaging to help with future targeting.

Hopefully the climb will give Curiosity a good workout, and we’ll get to see some exciting features when we get there! 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.

Testing of the new ChemCam automatic focusing software continues to go well--the instrument is returning well-focused data of the quality we got used to early in the mission. The MAHLI test data acquired on Sol 989 are also looking good; here's an image of the penny in the MAHLI calibration target on the rover.

Having completed the most urgent arm activities needed before
conjunction, MSL is ready to drive again. The Sol 990 plan begins with a
Navcam search for dust devils, ChemCam and Mastcam observations of
"Pinedale," and a Right Mastcam image of the APXS target
"Spokane." Then the rover will drive west in search of a route up the
hill toward the southwest and acquire the post-drive data needed to plan
the next drive and targeted science observations. 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 backwards drive on sol 986 was successful, and over the
weekend, Curiosity drove back toward "Jocko Butte". Before the drive on sol
987, ChemCam had a 5x1 observation of the target "Mill", accompanied by a
Mastcam image. Mastcam also took a small 2x2 mosaic of our tracks.

The drive back toward Jocko Butte was about 43 m, bringing our total odometry to 10,697 m. After the drive, Navcam and Mastcam took images to allow for targeted science and contact
science, and Navcam also had an atmospheric observation. On sol 988, we had several
"untargeted" observations, including some Mastcam measurements of the amount of
dust in the atmosphere, a Mastcam "clast survey" observation, and a MAHLI image
of the ground at our new location.

In today’s plan for sol 989, there is a ChemCam 3x3
observation on the target "Spokane", and an accompanying APXS observation. (And
can I just say how nice it is to be able to rapidly analyze nine spots on a
target with ChemCam again?) Sol 989 also has a number of arm settling tests
with MAHLI that we want to get done before the upcoming conjunction (several
weeks when the sun is between the Earth and Mars, cutting off communications).
These tests help us to see how long it takes for vibrations in the rover’s arm
to disappear enough to allow good MAHLI images. Finally, APXS will be placed
back on Spokane for an overnight measurement.

After sol 989, we will be driving again, though where
exactly we will go is still being discussed. We want to get to the stratigraphic
contact at the base of "Mt. Stimson", but it is proving to be difficult to
reach so we are also considering alternatives. 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’ve been having trouble with the path we originally wanted
to take through the sand toward the interesting geology at "Mt. Stimson", so in
today’s plan we are going to take a careful look around to identify better
routes. Mastcam has a 13x3 mosaic in the direction we want to go, as well as a
5x3 mosaic of Mt. Stimson and a 2x2 mosaic to fill a gap in a previous mosaic.

While Mastcam tries to spot a path through the sand, ChemCam
is busy testing out its new focusing software, which seems to be working well.
ChemCam has an autofocus observation of a target called "Yellowjacket", and a
z-stack observation of the same target to compare the results.

After that, we have a short backwards drive to get us from
our current highly tilted location to more level ground. After the drive,
Navcam will provide a 360 degree view of our new location, and Mastcam will do
a "clast survey" to document the sand and pebbles at our new location.

Finally, Mastcam has some night-time imaging of another
Phobos eclipse. 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.

Once again, excessive
wheel slippage prevented MSL from driving as far as planned, so the
tactical team decided to take a break from driving to allow various
options to be studied in more detail. The rover
is tilted 21 degrees, the highest tilt of the mission so far, on the
flank of a small ridge. The vehicle is high enough on the ridge that
the terrain to the southwest is visible in Sol 984 Navcam images,
allowing more complete evaluation of a traverse in that direction.

The Sol 985 plan includes ChemCam observations of a
nearby rock called "Una" to test the newly-installed ChemCam autofocus
software. Of course we are hoping this test goes well and that ChemCam
will return to more normal operations soon.
Mastcam will also observe Una, as well as the ripples and small rocks
near the rover, and outcrops toward the south. The usual
atmospheric monitoring observations round out 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 MSL tactical team took a day off yesterday to allow Earth and Mars
time to synch up; planning is no longer restricted and we will be
working every day the rest of this week (including Saturday ).
Despite efforts to avoid sandy areas,
the Sol 983 drive stopped short when the rover detected that it was
slipping too much. So after taking some Mastcam images of the areas
that are being considered for upcoming contact science,

the rover will back up and drive around the sand and up onto a low
ridge to the southwest of our current location. The slopes on the flank
of the ridge are steeper than those that the rover has traversed
before, but it will probably be easier to climb them than
to drive across the sandy ripples. Overnight, CheMin will perform an
instrument 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.

The Sol 981 drive got the rover around the troublesome ripples and to the desired location, which gave us a good view of the terrain ahead. Unfortunately, the images taken from the new location show more sandy ripples between the rover and the sharp transition between bright and dark rocks that we would would like to examine close up.

So the plan for Sol 983
is to go around the ripples to the right and search for a safe path
ahead. But first, ChemCam will test its new focusing software, using
the RMI to find the best focus position for LIBS
analyses of the onboard calibration targets. The biggest challenge for
me as SOWG Chair today was prioritizing data for downlink, as the data
volume expected via MRO is much less than usual. We will probably
receive the images most urgently needed to plan
the next drive, but not the results of the ChemCam software tests.
This will delay the return of ChemCam to "normal" operations. But the near-term focus will likely be on driving, so
there will be few opportunities for ChemCam observations
anyway. 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 Sol 978 drive stopped after going only a couple meters
instead of the expected ~19 meters because Curiosity detected that its wheels
were slipping in the sand. The rover periodically takes pictures of its
surroundings while driving to make sure that it is actually moving forward and
its wheels are not just spinning in place. This was a lesson learned years ago
when the Opportunity rover got itself stuck in a sand ripple by spinning its wheels.
Curiosity currently is in no danger of getting stuck: in the weekend plan we
will just back up slightly and drive around the worst of the sand.

On Sol 980, before we drive, ChemCam and Mastcam will
analyze two targets, "Silver Valley" and "Snowslip" and Navcam will watch for
clouds above Mt. Sharp. Then on sol 981, Mastcam will take some pictures of the
crater rim and the sun to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere. After
that comes the drive and our standard post-drive images so we can see our new
surroundings. Mastcam will also take a 7x2 mosaic of Logan Pass right after
driving.

In the afternoon of Sol 981, ChemCam will turn on so that
its software can be updated. I’ve really been looking forward to this update,
which will allow ChemCam to automatically focus using its camera, bringing us back to almost-normal operations!

On sol 982 there won’t be much activity, just some
maintenance activities for REMS. 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 sol 976 drive was successful and we are close to "Jocko
Chute" (our informal name for the saddle point west of Jocko Butte). In the sol
978 plan, we have a ChemCam LIBS observation of a patch of exposed bedrock
called "Big Salmon", followed by lots of Mastcam images. There is a 14x3 mosaic
of some hills in the direction of our drive, some single frame high-resolution
images of the targets "Silvertip", "White_Coyote", and part of the wall of
"Logan Pass". There is also a stereo Mastcam image of an outcrop called "White
Horse" and a 4x2 mosaic of Jocko Butte.

Once all that is done, we will drive toward "Logan Pass" and
do our standard post-drive imaging so we can see our new surroundings. On sol
979 ChemCam has a few calibration observations of targets on the rover, and
then Mastcam has an overnight observation of Phobos as it is eclipsed by Mars.
The idea of this observation is to take pictures of Phobos when it is
illuminated by the sun, and then when it is illuminated just by light passing
through Mars’ atmosphere, and compare them to figure out how much dust is in
the atmosphere. 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.