On Sol 1352, post-drive imaging showed that there were sandy ripples ahead, but also enough rocky patches for the rover to safely drive towards the southwest. This is great news as we had planned to drive in that direction on Sol 1353. Before the drive, Mastcam will take stereo mosaics of the Murray-Stimson contact and a few areas with nodular features. ChemCam will autonomously analyze the chemistry of a target chosen by the AEGIS software after the drive.
In preparation for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, two sols are being planned on this day to get a head start. We anticipate receiving the necessary data from Sol 1352 tomorrow morning to continue planning the weekend activities. Since the 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 an MAHLI/MARDI uplink lead, it was another straightforward day for me, with just planning an MARDI twilight image. 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.
