As the SOWG Chair, my team and I have planned two sols to kick off our holiday weekend preparations. Our main goal was to determine which activities we would pursue, including mobility and contact science with or without brushing. This presented us with an exciting challenge as we worked out our plans for the day.
In our initial stages of planning, we decided not to move the rover. Instead, our top priority was to brush and investigate a potential drill target just to the right of the Newmachar brush spot. While we won’t be finalizing the drill target today, we are confident that “Lake Orcadie,” the area to be brushed on Sol 1966, will likely include it.
Before using the DRT on Lake Orcadie, ChemCam will measure its elemental composition at nine points in a 3×3 raster. MAHLI will also take images from 25 and 5 cm above the surface. Additionally, ChemCam will shoot its laser at another contact science target called “Forties” to clean some of the dust off the surface before MAHLI and APXS examine it later in the day.
MAHLI will also capture a full suite of images of the brushed spot before APXS is placed on it for an overnight integration. Today’s activities are varied and require careful planning to ensure that we collect all necessary data for our investigations.
Overall, our team is excited about these upcoming sols and eagerly anticipates what new discoveries await us on Mars!