Sol-by-sol Summary


Sol 19  AFM Checkout; Dodo-Goldilocks is extended. White fragment is revealed. Also made a movie of the arm motion. RAC image “Snow Queen;” Continued OM imaging of magnets.

Sol 18  TEGA begins its first bake. Trenching begins at Dodo-Goldilocks. However just beneath the surface the scoop hits a hardened material at the top of the trench. RA sprinkled a spoonful of Martian soil onto the sample wheel of the robotic microscope station.

Sol 17  RA delivers its first sample to the microscopic imager. The particles in this image were scattered across a blue sticky silicone base just 3 millimeters (1/10th inch) across. The irregular, orange-ish particles, common across the image, are clumps of even smaller particles.

Sol 16  TEGA atmospheric measurement. The TEGA oven fills after additional shaking with sample from “Baby Bear.” Work on the Panorama continues.

Sol 15  Practice of the sprinkling technique to get small amounts of soil into instruments. Using the rasp, the scoop was vibrated to gently deliver the material to MECA. Sprinkle test on MECA cover successful.

Sol 14  Shaking TEGA with RA documentation to try and cause material to sift through the screen over the oven - too small an amount of material has moved through screen into oven to initiate a TEGA low temperature ramp. No luck—soil still clumped. RA acquire “Mama Bear” sample for sprinkle test with RAC documentation

Sol 13  SSI imaging; RAC divot images; RA trench in “Dodo.” TEGA sample not passing through screen.

Sol 12  The RA released a handful of Martian soil onto the screened opening to TEGA cell 4; OM dustfall analysis A. The RA was used to study how strongly the soil on the top layer of the surface clings together into clumps.

Sol 11  The RA retrieved a sample from “Baby Bear” and images of the first successful scoop of soil were taken. Soil was moved to TEGA. TEGA’s number 4 oven door did not completely open. RA acquires sample with RAC documentation.

Sol 10  No RA movement due to Odyssey safe mode. Run-out day for full color panorama “Peter Pan” slice, telltale, optical depth.