Mars Exploration: Continuing the Drill Campaign on Sols 1339 and 1340

Sols 1339-1340: A Celebration of Two Mars Years!

The mission continues uninterrupted, even though we may feel the urge to take a break and indulge in some cake. Today, our focus is on planning for Sols 1339 and 1340 as we carry on with our drill campaign at the target “Okoruso”.

On Sol 1339, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) will be used to observe a pile of drill tailings that were deposited without being sieved. The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument will complete the analysis from the previous day’s plan, while the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) will conduct an overnight measurement of the dump pile.

Moving on to Sol 1340, we have a specific science block planned which includes passive and active observations of the dump pile using the Chemistry Camera (ChemCam). Active observations will also be made of the targets “Kobos 2”, “Stampriet”, and “Swartmodder”. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) will document these targets, followed by atmospheric dust observations using both Mastcam and Navigation Camera (Navcam).

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