Curiosity update: Touch and go

Sol 1344-45, May 16, 2016, update from USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: The drive planned last weekend completed successfully, moving MSL less than 6 meters into position for contact science on the rocks broken by the rover wheels.  Planning is restricted this week, so we are planning 2 sols’ worth of activities.  The first sol (1344) includes a “touch and go” that requires extra Rover Planner staffing, as both arm activities and a drive are planned.  It’s great to be able to do so much in one plan, but we had to cram a lot of stuff into Sol 1344 because the drive has to be completed before the afternoon MRO communications relay to allow another drive to be planned on Wednesday.  So we had to decide which scientific observations were most important and work to fit them into the plan. [More at link]