MSL science planning has resumed! Today we are planning 3 sols, with the focus on dropping more of the drill sample into 4 of SAM's cups, for future analysis. While the arm is out, we'll take MAHLI images of the rover wheels and a Mastcam image of the sample seive, for engineering assessment. These arm activities will take 2 sols to complete, so the plan is pretty full. I'm scheduled to support ChemCam planning in the Science Theme Groups today, but because the plan is already so complex we couldn't add any ChemCam observations. Still, it's good be planning science activities again!

There will be no MSL science planning again today, as analysis of the recent electrical issue continues. We are hope to return to normal science operations on Friday, planning 3 sols for the weekend.

I was scheduled as MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, but there was nothing to do because all science planning is on hold while the power issue is being investigated. Because planning is restricted this week, diagnostic data acquired today will not be available in time for planning tomorrow. If the diagnostics go well, we may be able to plan scientific observations as early as Thursday, for Sol 461.

The plan for last weekend included driving on 2 sols. Unfortunately, the first drive, on Sol 455, was aborted due to a wheel stall. There was also an electrical problem, so the Sol 458 plan will be devoted to getting the engineering data needed to recover from this problem. The rover is in a stable configuration but no science activities will be planned until tomorrow.

I was happy to see the announcement that features on Mars have been named in honor of Bruce Murray, former JPL director and my thesis adviser at Caltech in the 1980s. I can't wait to see what "Murray Buttes" look like up close when MSL gets there! It's too bad Bruce won't get to see the pictures of these features--he would have loved them!

I was SOWG Chair again planning Sol 452, which was disappointing because it was basically a repeat of Sol 451. When the Sol 451 plan was run on the testbed, a potential problem was discovered and the decision was made at the last minute not to send it to the rover. The problem, which may have caused the rover to reboot, was corrected in the Sol 452 plan. The recovery from the software anomaly has been completed and the Sol 453 plan included targeted remote sensing and a drive. The drive went well (~47 meters) and another drive is being planned for Sol 454.

I'm SOWG Chair today, but focused on tomorrow's plan because Sol 451 is dedicated to recovering from last week's software anomaly . So far, the recovery is going well and we are planning to resume normal science operations on Sol 452. We have received lots of data acquired during the Cooperstown contact science campaign and are happy with the results.

There are no science observations planned this week while the rover flight software is upgraded. This upgrade was planned well in advance, and if all goes well science and drive planning will resume on Monday.

Planning started at 6:30 this morning to allow enough time to plan 3 sols before we have to send the command sequences to the rover by 19:00 this evening. The science theme groups requested lots of good observations, expecting that they wouldn't all fit into the plan. It was therefore a hectic day, but all of the science observations made it into the plan! After taking lots of ChemCam and Mastcam data, the arm will be deployed to acquire MAHLI images and elemental chemical data using APXS. On the last sol, the arm will be stowed in preparation for an upgrade of flight software that will take all next week.

The rover is very close to a low scarp that is the target for contact science this weekend. The Sol 440 plan includes a bunch of targeted ChemCam and Mastcam observations, followed by a short drive (or "bump") to the low scarp dubbed "Cooperstown." The planning schedule is tight, so we started at 7 AM this morning to give us time to check all the command sequences before they have to be sent to the rover this evening. I'm SOWG Chair today and tomorrow. If the Sol 440 drive goes well, we will be planning lots of remote sensing and contact science for the weekend.

Last weekend's 3-sol plan included back-to-back drives on Sols 436 and 437. This is the first time in the mission that this has been attempted. There was no tactical planning on Monday to allow Mars and Earth time to synch up, but the rover drivers reviewed the available data before giving their go for the second drive. There was applause during the SOWG meeting when the rover drivers announced that both drives had completed successfully!

This morning, planning started at 6:00 PDT, earlier than usual to give us enough time to complete planning before the commands must be sent to the rover this afternoon. So we are sort of back on Mars time today, which is exciting enough that I had no trouble getting up before dawn. I'm MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead today, planning the usual images after another drive toward the second waypoint, called Cooperstown.