Perseverance from Team Curiosity: Sols 3752-3754

Perseverance from Team Curiosity: Sols 3752-3754
by Natalie Moore | Mission Ops - MSSS
Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 01, 2023

On our weekly day off from planning, we awaited the triage data for Drill Sol 1 to confirm if Tapo Caparo seemed more drillable. After receiving the MAHLI image early in the day, we saw DRT scratches and a divot from the preload test, indicating that this upper unit of the Marker Band might not be as hard as our last few drill targets. After the geochemistry data from APXS and ChemCam came down, both teams analyzed Tapo Caparo's chemistry and decided to proceed with Drill Sol 2 to get to sampling depth before leaving the Marker Band area.

Our modeling tools worked extra hard on Drill Sol 2 plans, so we kept things moving early in the day. Since we've planned Drill Sol 2 four other times in the past ~three months, we knew exactly what to do to make planning go as smooth as possible. We're using Sol 3752 for our full drill, including lots of documentation imaging during and after. The only non-drill activities on that Sol will be some DAN subsurface measurements and a Navcam twilight cloud survey.

Sol 3753 will be filled with remote science, with Mastcam taking the lead for data volume and ChemCam following close behind. In the middle of all this remote science, an early-afternoon arm block contains test sample drop-off activities to the closed SAM inlet, assuming the drill succeeds and sample is collected. On the last Sol, more time is dedicated to remote science with lots more Mastcam images, ChemCam LIBS and RMI, and Navcam's usual long-distance movies.

We had a sholiday last weekend, so Earth and Mars are pretty in-sync right now with timing. That means our drill data should come down ~11am Saturday morning, whatever the outcome! For fun, we shared a nice view of APXS during the DRT of Tapo Caparo, before any other contact science was accomplished. We also shared some Hazcam images of APXS touching a ripple crest and a backward-facing view of our Tapo Caparo drill location, showing the beautifully laminated blocks we are next to.

We kept our pre-drill planning to a minimum, as drilling takes a lot of rover energy. So, we planned Sol 3752 for our full drill and included lots of documentation imaging during and after. The only non-drill activities on that Sol will be some DAN subsurface measurements and a Navcam twilight cloud survey since we're still in Mars twilight cloud season.

Sol 3753 will be dedicated to remote science with Mastcam taking the lead for data volume and ChemCam following close behind. An early-afternoon arm block contains test sample drop-off activities to the closed SAM inlet, assuming the drill succeeds and sample is collected. On the last Sol, we will have more time for remote science with lots more Mastcam images, ChemCam LIBS and RMI, and Navcam's usual long-distance movies.

We had a sholiday last weekend, so Earth and Mars are pretty in-sync right now with timing. Our drill data should come down ~11am Saturday morning, whatever the outcome! We shared a nice view of APXS during the DRT of Tapo Caparo, before any other contact science was accomplished. We also shared some Hazcam images of APXS touching a ripple crest and a backward-facing view of our Tapo Caparo drill location, showing the beautifully laminated blocks we are next to.

Overall, we are hopeful about the success of Drill Sol 2 and look forward to the results.