Sols 1341-1343: A change of plans - NASA Science
Summary
The MSL team was originally planning a long drive this weekend, but there was enough interest in the fresh rock surfaces exposed near the rover that we decided to investigate them instead. Taking MAHLI images of nearly vertical faces is difficult, because the turret at the end of the arm must be placed close to the ground. While the Strategic Rover Planner worked to find ways to get MAHLI close to the fresh surfaces, we planned pre-drive remote sensing and arm activities: On Sol 1341, ChemCam will observe its calibration target, a bedrock target named "Kobos 3," and the wall of the Okoruso drill hole. The arm will be stowed to allow a Mastcam multispectral observation of the brush spot before the rover bumps over to the broken rocks. After acquiring post-drive images, the rover will take a nap before CheMin performs another overnight analysis of the Okoruso drill sample.