7 January 2013 A short “bump” toward slightly younger rocks in front of the rover was planned for Sol 151, and no MAHLI observations were included so I had an easy day as PUL. The contact science activities in the current location went well, including the first brushing of the surface. In order to characterize the geology and chemistry of the rocks at the edge of Yellowknife Bay, we intend to repeat the set of brushing, APXS, MAHLI, ChemCam and Mastcam activities at the new location starting on Sol 152. These activities won’t be planned until Tuesday, because we are taking a day off Monday while Mars and Earth schedules sync up again. About every 5 weeks, such a “skip” sol is scheduled, giving Earthlings a break, but the rover won’t notice.

Ken Herkenhoff is a ChemCam RMI specialist. An archive of Ken’s past updates can be read at http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/news/.