Careful Planning: SOWG Chair on Brushing and Investigating Mars Targets during Two-Sol Planning Process

As the SOWG Chair, I had to carefully consider several options for activities during our two-sol planning process. Our top priority was to brush and investigate a potential drill target just to the right of the Newmachar brush spot. Although we won’t finalize the drill target today, we made a decision early on not to move the rover, and instead focused on Lake Orcadie as the area to be brushed on Sol 1966.

Before using the DRT on Lake Orcadie, ChemCam will measure its elemental composition at 9 points in a 3×3 raster, and MAHLI will take images from 25 and 5 cm above the surface. Additionally, ChemCam will shoot its laser at another contact science target named “Forties” to clean some of the dust off the surface before MAHLI and APXS examine it later in the day.

Today’s activities are varied and require careful planning to ensure that we collect all the necessary data for our investigations. MAHLI will also acquire a full suite of images of the brushed spot before APXS is placed on it for an overnight integration. With so much work to be done, we’re excited to get started on our holiday weekend planning!