Curiosity has had a busy weekend! We arrived at the location
called Pahrump Hills, which has a nice flat expanse of bedrock for us to drill
and get our first taste of Mt. Sharp rocks. On Sol 755 we took pictures of the
outcrop with MAHLI, brushed it with the Dust Removal Tool (DRT), and measured
its composition with APXS. Then, on Sol 756 we did a "mini-drill" to test the
stability of the rock before doing a full drill. We used Sol 757 to recharge
after all of the arm activity of the previous sols.

In the sol 758 plan today, we have a lot going on. ChemCam
will be zapping the targets Mammoth and Morrison, and Mastcam will take images
of those targets, plus the tailings from the mini-drill. Then we will use MAHLI
to take pictures of Mammoth and Moenkopi, we will use the DRT to brush off
Moenkopi, and then do some more MAHLI imaging afterward. Finally, APXS will
measure the composition of the targets Moenkopi and Mammoth. 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 successful 114 m drive through Amargosa Valley on Sol 751, we are planning our arrival at the Pahrump Hills! The scenery is fantastic, and this Navcam image shows the bright outcrop that we intend to investigate. Planning is restricted this week, so today we are planning Sols 753 and 754. On the first sol we are planning several Mastcam and Navcam observations to characterize the terrain and the local geology, as well as a SAM observation to study the composition of the atmosphere. A short ~30 m drive on Sol 753 should put Curiosity in a good position at the Pahrump Hills. Sol 754 will consist of 2 hours of untargeted remote sensing, including ChemCam calibration activities to prepare for the Pahrump investigation, and a Navcam movie to monitor the atmosphere. While Curiosity is busy making her way towards the Pahrump Hills, the MSL Science Team is meeting in Pasadena this week to discuss recent results and plan upcoming science investigations!

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 expected, the Sol 748 drive put the rover in a good location to view the path toward Pahrump Hills . Planning is restricted this week, so Sols 751 and 752 were planned on Monday, and 2 more sols will be planned on Wednesday. This planning cadence has been used for years on the Mars Exploration Rovers, and will become the norm in the MSL extended mission. For Sol 751, we had the difficult choice of examining the rocks in front of us with the arm instruments or driving toward the Pahrump Hills outcrop. Because we expect to encounter the same rock unit on the other side of Pahrump Hills, we decided to drive. But first, Mastcam and ChemCam will examine nearby targets "Shinarump" and "Upheaval Dome," the latter named after an eroded impact structure in southeastern Utah. On Sol 752, ChemCam will shoot "blind" at the surface to the right of the rover, and Mastcam will acquire a 360-degree panorama.
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 747 post-drive data were not received until 11:30 PDT today, so we are planning another "rapid-traverse" sol. After acquiring 3 Mastcam mosaics on the morning of Sol 748, the rover will drive as far as possible to a low ridge toward the southwest. The view from the ridge crest should allow planning of a longer drive toward Pahrump Hills. Because of the late start, only one sol of activities is being planned today--the rover will acquire only background RAD and REMS data on Sols 749 and 750.

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 746 drive put the rover in a good location
for imaging the terrain ahead, which looks good for a long drive on Sol
747. The Sol 746 data did not hit the ground until after 11:00 PDT
(as expected), so today is another "rapid traverse"
planning sol and the time available for science observations is
therefore more limited than usual. Because the view of the bright
"Pahrump Hills" outcrop is good from our current location,

Mastcam stereo mosaics of Pahrump Hills and other features of interest
are planned for the morning of Sol 747. The Pahrump Hills mosaic should
be useful in planning investigations of this nice outcrop of the rocks
that form the base of Mt. Sharp .

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 744 drive went as planned (32 meters), and another
drive is planned for Sol 746. Because we can't see the terrain
immediately beyond the small saddle dubbed "Jubilee Pass,"

the rover will drive about 9 meters into the saddle, then take images
of the other side. But first, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe targets
dubbed "Anvil Spring Canyon," "Epaulet Peak," and "Copper Queen." After
the drive, another ChemCam "blind" observation
of the surface to the right of the rover is planned.




Back here on Earth, there will be a teleconference tomorrow to discuss the status of the mission and the upcoming science campaign.
Please tune in!

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 have not received any data from sol 744 yet, so sol 745
is a simple day of untargeted remote sensing. ChemCam has an observation of the
sky (with the laser off) to measure the gases in the atmosphere, and a "blind"
LIBS observation off to the right of the rover. Mastcam will take a context
image for the ChemCam blind observation so we can tell what we shot, and will
also make some "tau" observations of the sun to measure how much dust is in the
atmosphere. We will also do standard DAN and REMS environmental monitoring. 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 was successful: we got good data from the Homewood
contact science target, plus a nice long 92.6 meter drive on Sol 743. The plan
for Sol 744 is to do routine wheel imaging, plus Mastcam mosaics of a mesa in
front of the rover named "Jubilee Pass," and a mosaic of the north and south
walls of Amargosa Valley. ChemCam will
be zapping two targets named "Butte Valley" and "Antelope Valley," and there
will be supporting Mastcam images of those targets too. Navcam will be taking a
movie watching for clouds above Mount Sharp.

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 is very ambitious, with a bunch of
targeted remote science observations on Sol 741, contact science on Sol
742, and a long drive on Sol 743. It has been a busy day for me as
SOWG Chair, partly because our favorite contact
science target was too difficult to reach with the arm instruments and
we had to scramble to find another target that was both reachable and
scientifically interesting. We settled on a target dubbed "Homewood,"
which will be examined by MAHLI and APXS. We
now have a good view of the path into Amargosa Valley ,
so we expect to make good progress on Sol 743.

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.

Curiosity is about to ingress into Amargosa Valley. This Navcam image
from Sol 739 shows some of the beautiful layered rocks that we have
been driving over and analyzing recently. The plan today includes
ChemCam and Mastcam observations of the targets "Timber Mountain,"
"Hunter Mountain" and "Wood Canyon," as well as a Mastcam mosaic of
"Owens Valley," and a long distance ChemCam observation of Pahrump
Hills. The drive today will be short (~12 m) to the edge of the ingress
to Amargosa Valley. At the end of the drive we will acquire better
imaging into the valley to help plan the ingress drive, which will
hopefully occur over the weekend. After the drive on Sol 740, Curiosity
will acquire post-drive imaging for targeting, including Mastcam
imaging of the workspace to prepare for possible contact science over
the weekend, and standard post-drive imaging.

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.