Sols 1528-1530: Fifteen Kilometers!

22 November 2016

Our weekend plan went as expected, including a ~16 meter drive which brings us to our next drill target: “Precipice”. That drive also brings our total drive distance from Bradbury Landing to just over 15 km! We have a three sol plan today as we head into the long holiday weekend… Read More

Sols 1525-1527: Contact science at Sutton Island and approaching the next drill site

18 November 2016

The MAHLI images from Sol 1523 are down, and we acquired some beautiful images of this new outcrop, as seen in the above image of the target "Seawall."  Today’s plan is focused on finishing the investigation at “Sutton Island,” and then driving towards the next drill target,… Read More

Sols 1523-1524: Investigating Sutton Island

16 November 2016

On Sol 1521 Curiosity drove 11 m to the east, which set us up to investigate a darker-toned outcrop known as “Sutton Island,” seen in the middle of the above Mastcam image.  Today’s plan is focused on contact science to study the grain size, stratification, and chemistry of… Read More

PILOT / UPC Data Release April 2016: Mars Odyssey - THEMIS IR

15 April 2016

The NASA/USGS PDS Imaging Node has released the following data in the Unified Planetary Coordinate (UPC) Database. MISSION / INSTRUMENT: Mars Odyssey / THEMIS_IR DATA RELEASE: 54Mapped: 11,637 Unmapped: 0 Please visit PILOT to access/download the new release.

PILOT / UPC Data Release June 2016: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - HiRISE

15 June 2016

The NASA/USGS PDS Imaging Node has added the following data to the Unified Planetary Coordinate (UPC) Database.  MISSION / INSTRUMENT: MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER / HiRISERelease #37. Mapped Images: 93,172. Unmapped Images: 0. Please visit PILOT to access/download the new release. 

PILOT / UPC Data Release June 2016: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - CTX

15 June 2016

The NASA/USGS PDS Imaging Node has added the following data to the Unified Planetary Coordinate (UPC) Database.  MISSION / INSTRUMENT: MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER / CTX Release #37. Mapped Images: 1600. Unmapped Images: 0. Please visit PILOT to access/download the new release. 

PILOT / UPC Data Release September 2016: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - CTX

15 September 2016

The NASA/USGS PDS Imaging Node has added the following data to the Unified Planetary Coordinate (UPC) Database.  MISSION / INSTRUMENT: MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER / CTX Release #38. Mapped Images: 1929. Unmapped Images: 1. Please visit PILOT to access/download the new release. 

Name Approved for Feature on Mars: Avan

15 November 2016

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Avan for a crater on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-18 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Sols 1521-1522: Making progress toward the next drill site

14 November 2016

Curiosity continues to drive across bumpy terrain of the Murray formation.  Over the weekend, Curiosity drove ~36 m, making good progress toward our next drill site.  Today’s two-sol plan starts with several ChemCam observations to assess the chemistry of the local bedrock and… Read More

Sols 1516-1520: Playing in the Sand

14 November 2016

We’re continuing to make steady progress, with successful drives interspersed with plenty of good science. In the Sol 1516 plan, we started off with a Mastcam mosaic of “West Mesa” to study the stratigraphy, followed by a big 5x5 point ChemCam analysis on the nodular target… Read More