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Hi, I'm Rick Welch, tactical operations mission
manager, and this is your Curiosity rover

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report.

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As many of you know, Curiosity was in a period
called solar conjunction.

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During this time Mars and Earth are on opposite
sides of the sun.

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It can be hard to communicate between the
rover and the Earth during this time and so

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we did a minimum set of science and we all
took a well-deserved spring break.

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Our first activity after solar conjunction
was to update Curiosity's software.

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We developed that software here on Earth and
tested it out in our test bed to make sure

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it worked right.

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We then sent it up to the rover.

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This new software has capabilities to allow
Curiosity to navigate on her own -- something

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we call autonomous navigation, or "autonav."

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Up until now, Curiosity has just used basic
driving or what we call "line driving" where

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the rover planners here on Earth do most of
the planning for her.

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The autonav capability will really help Curiosity
select safe routes and make better progress

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each day.

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Another update was for additional onboard
safety checks for the ChemCam instrument.

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ChemCam's telescopic eye can be sensitive
to the sun.

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It's therefore important that we never pointed
directly at the sun for long periods of time

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with the ChemCam.

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We've updated the onboard software to calculate
where the sun is and makes sure that ChemCam

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doesn't get pointed in the wrong direction.

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The plans for upcoming activities include
getting calibration images from the Navigation

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cameras at the top of Curiosity's mast.

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We switched to the B side computer before
solar conjunction and this meant we also switched

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to a different set of navigation cameras.

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The calibration images will help ensure the
cameras are working properly before we drive

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to a new location.

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And we may be drilling again soon.

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Scientists and engineers have been hard at
work looking for new targets where we could

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drill.

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One such target is just a few meters west
from the rover and could be a potential second

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drill site.

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We're planning a short drive or "bump" into
this position hopefully by the end of this

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week so we can be ready for our second drilling
campaign.