Curiosity update: Touch and go or just go (again)?

Sol 1685, May 3, 2017, update by MSL scientist Christopher Edwards: Planning rover science activities is a dynamic process. Unlike yestersol’s plan, the Geology Theme Group decided to include an APXS and MAHLI “touch-and-go” in the plan, carrying out valuable contact science on the layered Murray bedrock. A touch-and-go, and in this case with a small APXS raster, is an option often available tactically to the Geology Theme Group that enables contact science to be carried out prior to a drive. Touch-and-go contact science activities, when appropriate, let the science team acquire the most information on a target without bringing a sample onboard the rover to instruments like CheMin and SAM. What makes these touch-and-go activities so valuable is that they have minimal impact to the drive distance for that day, allowing Curiosity to continue its ultimate goal of characterizing the… [More at link]