Sol 1352: Unexpected Sand Ripples, Rocky Patch, and Exciting Weekend Plans for Mars Rover

On Sol 1352, the post-drive imaging revealed that there are sandy ripples ahead. However, with enough rocky patches for the rover to drive towards the southwest. This news is great as we were planning to head in that direction on Sol 1353. Prior to the drive, Mastcam will take stereo mosaics of the Murray-Stimson contact and a couple of areas to the west with nodular features. ChemCam will autonomously analyze the chemistry of a target chosen by the AEGIS software after the drive.

In preparation for Memorial Day weekend, two sols are being planned on this day to get a head start. We expect to receive the necessary data from Sol 1352 tomorrow morning and continue planning the weekend activities. Since activities on Sol 1353 cannot be precisely targeted, Navcam will search for clouds and Mastcam will measure dust levels in the atmosphere at various times that sol. Additionally, ChemCam will perform a routine calibration activity.

As MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead, it was another straightforward day with just one MARDI twilight image to plan. The dates of planned rover activities mentioned in these reports are subject to change due to various factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays, and rover status.