Over the weekend, the planned activities went smoothly and the rover is now in a favorable location to begin a comprehensive wheel imaging campaign. Initially, a short drive was scheduled for Sol 512 to position the rover for wheel imaging. However, it turned out that the drive was unnecessary, allowing more time for contact science activities.
As the Science Theme Groups and the SOWG Chair (me) prepared for the day, we were faced with the task of adjusting plans based on the rover planners’ evaluation of data. Ultimately, we decided to add an extra APXS/MAHLI target for contact science, which included an overnight APXS integration on a target called “Kodak.”
This week, our planning is flexible and unrestricted. Due to the timing of the uplink, we had to start our planning session earlier than usual, beginning at 6:00 Pacific time this morning. This allowed us to make the necessary adjustments and prepare for a successful week ahead.