MRO is still in safe mode, but enough data were received via Mars Odyssey to allow another drive to be planned on Sol 568, about 70 meters. Again, the data were received late in the day Pacific time, so there was not enough time to plan science observations beyond the standard background and post-drive imaging.
After I finished my SOWG Chair shifts last week, I took some time off to celebrate my son's birthday. While I was away, the MSL planning schedule transitioned into "late slide sols" because data from the rover arrive late in the day Pacific time. In order to preserve the ability to send commands to the rover every day, only driving was allowed on these slide sols. This allowed continued traverse progress over the weekend, but very few science observations. Unfortunately, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) suffered an anomaly Sunday (news release 2014-078) that interrupted the relay of data from MSL to Earth. Therefore, the drive planned for Sol 567 was cancelled and targeted ChemCam and Mastcam observations of nearby rocks were planned instead. MSL data are typically also relayed by the Mars Odyssey orbiter, so rover operations can continue while MRO is recovering, but with more limited downlink volume.
The Sol 561 drive went well, and the rover is in a good location for MAHLI wheel imaging, so the Sol 562 plan includes 4 sets of wheel images. We had just enough power to add a few science observations, including Mastcam and ChemCam RMI observations of dunes near the base of Aeolis Mons ("Mt. Sharp"). Today was my last shift as SOWG Chair until late this month, and I will miss working at JPL with the MSL operations team.
At the beginning of tactical operations this morning, the plan for Sol 561 was to take a set of MAHLI wheel images. But the nearby terrain was not ideal for wheel imaging, and a safe path ahead was visible, so we decided to drive toward the west again. This didn't leave much power for other activities, but we were able to squeeze in a few, including a CheMin vibration activity in preparation for the next sample ingestion/analysis.
It's been a while since I traveled to JPL to serve as SOWG Chair for MSL planning, so I decided to spend a few days in Pasadena this week. I'm glad I did, because it would have been much more difficult to get the job done this morning from Flagstaff. Several options were "on the table" including contact science, a full set of MAHLI wheel images, targeted remote sensing, and a couple of drive direction choices. So the science team had to prepare contingency plans for these varied scenarios and react to updates from the engineering team regarding the risk of the rover slipping in response to arm motions and potential drive hazards. Once the rover state and nearby terrain were evaluated, we settled on contact science followed by a drive toward the west, and the rest of the planning day went very smoothly. The Sol 560 plan includes APXS and MAHLI observations of a rock dubbed "Secure" followed by a ~27-meter drive.
I have been traveling this week to a meeting of the HiRISE (the big camera that has been taking images of rovers from orbit, science team, so am catching up with what MSL has been up to. Drive progress has been good, requiring some discipline on the part of the MSL science team to resist diverting the rover toward interesting outcrops . In addition, the SAM instrument has been doing overnight combustion experiments that require lots of power. The last one of these is planned early in the morning of Sol 558, so there are no daytime activities planned for Sol 557. Later on Sol 558, Mastcam and ChemCam observations of a target dubbed "Mount Amy" are planned, followed by MAHLI and APXS observations of a soil target named "Johnny Cake." The rover will then drive about 60 meters on Sol 559 and take the standard post-drive images to prepare for possible contact science on Sol 560.
The Sol 549 drive brought the rover close enough to the outcrop dubbed Bungle Bungle to allow MAHLI and APXS measurements, so the Sol 550 plan focuses on contact science. First, ChemCam will zap and image the outcrop, then the arm will be deployed. After the contact science has completed, the rover will drive about 22 meters to get a better view of the path ahead .
The rover drove over 100 meters on Sol 548, so it is time for another full set of wheel images to monitor wear. Because the MAHLI wheel imaging sequences have been used many times before, it was a relatively easy day for me as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead. After the wheel imaging is finished, the rover will drive about 6 meters to a low outcrop and take lots of post-drive images to allow planning contact science on Sol 550.
Testing on Earth has shown that driving backward should reduce wear on the front and middle wheels, so the Sol 547 drive was the first long, 100 meters, backward drive . It went very well, and the terrain ahead looks good , so another long drive is planned for Sol 548, again mostly backward.
Monday was a holiday (Presidents' Day) for some of us, but not for the MSL tactical team. The activities planned for last weekend went well, including a 47-meter drive, so the Sol 546 plan focused on imaging of the wheels at 4 positions.
