Name Approved for Feature on Ganymede: Gushkin
11 July 2016The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Gushkin for a small crater on Ganymede. For more information, see the map for Ganymede in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
Curiosity Update: Safe Mode
6 July 2016The activities planned for Sols 1387 and 1388 completed successfully, and lots of good data were returned including a stunning Right Mastcam panorama of the "Murray Buttes" toward the southwest. One of the images in this panorama shows a boulder that appears to be precariously balanced. … Read More
Sol 1389-1391: Holiday Weekend, Good Luck Juno!
1 July 2016Today we put together a three sol plan to take us through the holiday weekend. On Sol 1389 we do contact science with APXS and MAHLI on the target “Outjo”. SAM also will begin an analysis of some of the “Mojave2” sample that was collected a while ago. Sol 1390 starts… Read More
Sol 1387-1388: Limited Targeting Data
30 June 2016In the lead up to the long 4th of July weekend, we are planning two sols today and three sols tomorrow. We only had a couple of Navcam images on the ground this morning to help us choose targets, but we still managed to find two targets for ChemCam to analyze on Sol 1387: a rock named… Read More
Sol 1386: Studying Trekkopje, checking the wheels
29 June 2016Our drive in the Sol 1385 plan took us 66 meters, continuing our path south between the “Baynes Mountains” and “Helgas Dune". The plan for Sol 1386 starts off with APXS and MAHLI observations of the target “Trekkopje”, followed by a short science block. Mastcam… Read More
Sol 1385: Drive then drive some more
28 June 2016Not a lot to report today: these one-sol drive plans are pretty simple! (Well, as simple as driving a giant robot on another planet can be…) Yesterday’s drive took us a little over 60m and we’re planning another drive in the sol 1385 plan. Before the drive, we have a short… Read More
Sol 1384: Baynes Mountain
27 June 2016Our weekend soliday plan was successful, putting us about halfway to our next likely drilling location. We are now in “unrestricted” planning again, meaning we will be getting data down overnight and can plan every day this week. The Sol 1384 plan starts with ChemCam of the target… Read More
Sol 1382-1383: Phobos Transit and Soliday
27 June 2016Contact science in the Sol 1380-1381 plan went well, so we're back to driving in the weekend plan! Sol 1382 will start with a Mastcam video of Phobos crossing in front of the sun, plus a multispectral observation of the brushed target “Koes”. ChemCam will then analyze the targets… Read More
Sols 1380-1381: Contact Science at “Koes”
22 June 2016The drive on Sol 1378 went well, and Curiosity drove ~44 m to the south, bringing our total drive distance to more than 13.2 km. We’re currently making our way through a gap in the Bagnold dunes (part of a dune is visible in the upper left of the drive direction Navcam frame,… Read More
Sol 1378-1379: Making up for lost distance
21 June 2016Over the weekend, the rover stopped after about 17 meters of the planned 65 meter drive. The rover is fine, the drive just tripped one of the (very conservative) limits on how the rover’s suspension was expected to behave, causing Curiosity to stop and check in with Earth. Since there… Read More
