MISSION UPDATES | March 14, 2016

Sol 1282: Up on the Plateau

Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center



I'm scheduled on tactical operations tomorrow ,
so I'm getting back up to speed on recent MSL activities today. The
Sol 1281 drive completed as planned, crossing the Murray/Stimson contact
at the edge of the Naukluft plateau. Now that we have a better view of
the plateau, we are ready to start driving across it. But first,
ChemCam and Mastcam will observe targets "Orupembe" and "Witvlei" on the
bedrock in front of the rover . Mastcam will also take pictures of the rocks in front of the rover and
targets "Natab East" and "Natab West" on either side of the vehicle
before the Sol 1282 drive. After the drive, in addition to the usual
post-drive imaging, the Left Mastcam will acquire a full 360-degree
panorama, as the view from the new location (near the left edge of the
image above) is expected to be good. We are looking forward to seeing
the new data!



by Ken Herkenhoff Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.