{"id":781790,"date":"2024-05-03T03:33:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=781790"},"modified":"2024-05-03T03:33:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T08:33:53","slug":"sols-4173-4174-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=781790","title":{"rendered":"Sols 4173-4174: Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"


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3 min read<\/p>\n

Sols 4173-4174: Reflections<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA\u2019s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4171 (2024-04-30 19:41:16 UTC).<\/div>\n
NASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 1,\u00a02024<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s planning was a little out of the ordinary. Not in terms of the plan itself, Curiosity\u2019s team built an exciting plan utilizing much of its science toolkit. Today\u2019s plan was unusual rather due to my role as APXS PUDL\u00a0Reverse Shadow<\/em>\u00a0(PUDL = Payload Uplink\/Downlink Lead). While I normally staff the APXS PUDL role, the person on-shift responsible for APXS downlink assessment and uplink planning, operating as a \u201cReverse Shadow\u201d meant I took a backseat to another APXS team member who was completing the final phases of their training for the role. They handled their duties with great aplomb, leaving me to\u00a0reflect\u00a0on my first few shifts in the same role.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019m typing this, given how long it has been since that time, I can\u2019t shake the comedy of narrating this section of the blog in the distinct and rapid-paced tone of 1940s or 1950s radio and TV. It was around a month after landing, September 10th 2012, to be specific. I was on shift for the first time as APXS PUDL and was not expecting much in the way of workload given the notional plan. Curiosity, on the other hand, had a different idea. As event logs of the sol prior were received, the intended plan was scrapped and there was an opportunity to propose an activity. My mentor at the time encouraged my input. We were conducting operations at JPL then and walked down the hall to present our request to other members of the team before the sol\u2019s uplink planning meetings officially kicked off (I am correcting myself here as I originally typed \u201cdays\u201d instead of \u201csols\u201d but\u00a0Mars time\u00a0<\/em>meant shifts at this time occurred throughout the night in California). The proposal was accepted, and the proposed activity ultimately went according to plan. I can remember driving back to my hotel as the sun was coming up. It was then that it hit me: I had just influenced something that happened on another planet. It was a very surreal experience. What I didn\u2019t realize then, however, was how important these data acquired on my first shift as lead APXS PUDL would be, given they now serve as a baseline from which we assess APXS performance vs. temperature over time.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s APXS PUDL had a more typical experience. There are two APXS targets in the plan: \u201cEmerald Peak\u201d and \u201cFranklin Lakes.\u201d These targets are both on the same block (the rectangular one just slightly left and above the middle of this blog\u2019s image), with Emerald Peak targeting the visibly altered rim near the lower portion of the block and Franklin Lakes more centrally located. MAHLI will acquire images of both of these targets, including a three-position rotational stereo set on Emerald Peak. A number of other targets were captured by ChemCam and\/or Mastcam, including \u201cGrizzly Falls,\u201d \u201cLiberty Cap,\u201d \u201cPavilion Dome,\u201d \u201cTriple Divide Peak,\u201d and \u201cHaystack Peak.\u201d As Curiosity is not driving in this plan, ChemCam and Mastcam are also used for targeted observations on the second sol, focusing primarily on \u201cThe Minarets\u201d and \u201cPinnacle Ridge,\u201d alongside long-distance observations of \u201cKukenan.\u201d DAN observations as well as a number of environmental monitoring activities by REMS, Navcam, and Mastcam round out the two-sol plan.<\/p>\n

Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington University<\/p>\n

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