Curiosity, the Mars rover, has a busy holiday weekend ahead with a plan that includes 3 sols of exploration. The Geology Science Theme Lead is facing challenges in fitting all of the activities into the plan while staying within power constraints.
On the first sol, ChemCam and Mastcam will be used to assess the composition and morphology of a small patch of sand. The rover will then drive southwest, taking Navcam images for future targeting and running a change detection experiment to monitor sand movement in a small sandsheet.
The second sol will focus on environmental monitoring activities using ChemCam and Mastcam to assess the atmosphere’s composition and opacity. In the morning of Sol 1176, Navcam will be used to monitor the atmosphere and search for dust devils. The rover will continue its change detection experiment in the afternoon to look for ripple movement and acquire another Mastcam mosaic of the dune to the west.
Additional activities include ChemCam calibration, a Mastcam mosaic of the local bedrock, a clast survey, and Navcam atmospheric observations. Throughout the plan, REMS will take observations to assess wind speeds as the team monitors the dunes. CheMin will dump “Greenhorn” sample and analyze an empty cell in preparation for upcoming sampling.
After a busy holiday plan, Curiosity will take time to rest and recharge before continuing its exploration. Safe travels, Curiosity!
