MISSION UPDATES | December 18, 2014

Sol 842: Trying again...

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

Unfortunately, the Sol
841 command sequences could not be sent to MSL because of a transmitter
problem at the Deep Space Network (DSN) antenna.

This reminded me not to take for granted communications between Earth
and Mars, even though such problems are rare. Bad weather over a DSN
station can prevent transmission or receipt of radio signals. Because
of such risks, every bundle of command sequences
sent to the Mars rovers includes a few sols' worth of "runout"
sequences. These tell the rover what to do if new commands are not
received. So MSL is safe and healthy, but not doing much on Sol 841
besides sending more data back to Earth (through the Mars
orbiters, as usual).

As you might expect, the Sol 842 plan includes most
of the observations planned for Sol 841. But the arm activities had to
be moved earlier to ensure that the MAHLI images of the right front
wheel will be received on Earth in time for
weekend planning on Friday.
These images should help determine whether it is safe to brush using
the Dust Removal Tool. To make room for the arm activities before the
critical MRO data relay, Mastcam observations of targets dubbed
"Telescope Peak," "Fairview
Valley," "Gem Hill," and "Juniper Hills" were moved later, after the
MRO communications pass. 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.