Sols 4443-4444: Four Fours for February

Earth planning date: Monday, Feb. 3, 2025

Another successful weekend plan left us about 23 meters (about 75 feet) farther down our Mount Sharp Ascent Route (MSAR), with all our science data downlinked to Earth and the planet clocks aligned once more. We only have until 18:26 Pacific time to get this Monday’s plan uplinked (due to the Soliday over the weekend), and two full days of science to plan! 

Our first sol science block starts at 12:06 local Gale Crater time, including a ChemCam long-distance RMI mosaic and a five-shot laser on bedrock. After ChemCam is done, Mastcam is planning 42 images, including ChemCam’s LIBS spots, some meteorite fragments, sand troughs between bedrock blocks, and interesting vein structures in our surrounding terrain. Navcam is planning to finish out that science block with a large dust devil survey. After our remote science wraps up, we’ve committed the hours between about 15:00 and 22:45 to our full contact science suite. Luckily, SRAP passed yet again and we took the opportunity to plan two targets — “San Rafael Hills” as our DRT target and “Allison Mine” as a potential meteorite target. 

After a nice, long sleep our rover will wake up at 09:53 local Gale time and start another round of remote science to start the sol. This time ChemCam will shoot their laser at the potential meteorite and contact target Allison Mine, with Mastcam following up to document the spots. After one last 20-minute sweep of Texoli butte through Mastcam, it’s time to pack up and head back down the MSAR. Hopefully our drive goes well again and we’ll find ourselves about 36 meters (about 118 feet) away on Wednesday!

Written by Natalie Moore, Mission Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems

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NASA Brings Space to New Jersey Classroom with Astronaut Q&A

Students from the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School in Somerset, New Jersey, will have the chance to connect with NASA astronaut Nick Hague as he answers prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related questions from aboard the International Space Station.

Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 11:10 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 11, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.

Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 6, to Jeanette Allison at: oyildiz@energysmartschool.org or 732-412-7643.

For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.

Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.

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Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones 
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov

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NASA Invites Media to Learn about Spacecraft Autonomous Tech Firsts

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