Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1575, January 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Now in Sol 1576, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover encountered an “arm fault” that prevented the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) full suite from completing it task, leaving the camera close to the surface with its dust cover open.

The issue also precluded the robot from making planned remote science and driving duties, reports Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

“Fortunately, this fault has occurred before and is well understood, but recovering from the anomaly made for a rather hectic day,” Herkenhoff adds.

Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1575, January 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Exposed optics

A first order of business was to get MAHLI into a safe configuration, so the Sol 1576 plan starts with a single MAHLI image to look for evidence of dust on the exposed optics.

Front Hazcam images will be taken before and after MAHLI is retracted from the surface, then Right Mastcam will take a picture of MAHLI’s optics, again to look for dust contamination.

Finally, the MAHLI dust cover will be closed and Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) device is to be placed on Dorr Mountain for a short integration.

Distant mesa

The plan calls for the arm to be stowed and Right Mastcam will acquire a 5×1 mosaic of a distant mesa named “Lobster Mountain.”

On the schedule is use of the Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Right Mastcam to observe Dorr Mountain and a bedrock target dubbed “Parkman Mountain,” and Left Mastcam will take another image of the rover deck to monitor changes in the dust and sand on the deck, Herkenhoff reports.

Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo acquired on Sol 1575, January 10, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Also on tap, the robot’s Mastcam is to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere before the drive is attempted again.

Overnight recharging

“We don’t expect as much data as usual in time for planning the next Sol, so we had to carefully prioritize the post-drive imaging, which includes another Navcam stereo pair of the arm workspace,” Herkenhoff adds.

Later in the Sol, ChemCam is to autonomously observe a target selected by the Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) software.

Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1574, January 9, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“Finally, the rover will recharge overnight to get ready for more fun on Sol 1577,” Herkenhoff concludes.

Planned rover activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

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