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This story was originally published by NASA and is unaltered.
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Sols 4257-4258: A Little Nudge on Kings Canyon [1]

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Date: 2024-07

We arrived this morning to a lovely new workspace. The science team has been eagerly observing these lighter-toned rocks first from orbital data, then from our drive direction imaging as we approached them, and now they are right in front of us! Because the science team had been contemplating the possibility of sampling these rocks, the drive that we planned on Wednesday ended in just the right orientation in case the team does decide to drill here. Variables that matter are the rover roll and pitch – so that we can both drill the rock safely but also then deliver sample to our two internal instruments, CheMin and SAM. Additionally, the rover heading needs to be just right so that we can communicate clearly with Earth – perhaps for several weeks if we remain for a campaign! We have specially certified Rover Planners called Sampling Campaign Rover Planners (SCaRPs) and they go into action on Drill Sol 1 to confirm that all those special considerations for drilling are met including finding the actual target on the ground that we want to assess.

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[1] Url: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/sols-4257-4258-a-little-nudge-on-kings-canyon/

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