New Name Approved for a Crater on the Moon

31 March 2015

 The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Tharp for a crater on the Moon. For more information, see the map of the Moon quadrangle LAC-102 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Sols 942-943 Cap Rock “Kanosh”

30 March 2015

Over the weekend, Curiosity drove further into Artist’s Drive to investigate a rock named “Kanosh.”  This boulder appears to represent the “capping unit,” so we’re planning to study Kanosh in more detail to understand this resistant type of… Read More

Sols 939-941: Leaving Garden City

27 March 2015

Ryan and I are working ChemCam tactical operations again today, planning 3 sols to get MSL through the upcoming weekend.  We therefore focused on planning Sol 939 ChemCam observations of "Live Oak Canyon," "Idyllwild," and "Blanco Mountain."  Mastcam images of these and other… Read More

Sols 937-938: Veinfest

25 March 2015

Interest in the dark and bright veins continues to be high, so the Sol 937 plan is dominated by observations of these features.  But first, ChemCam and Mastcam will observe the unsieved Telegraph Peak drill sample dump pile.  Ryan is ChemCam science uplink lead today, and I helped him… Read More

A Mars Marathon!

24 March 2015

With the drive on Sol 3968, Opportunity has traveled more than a marathon’s distance on the surface of Mars!  This is the first time that any spacecraft has exceeded the 42.195 kilometers of a marathon on the surface of another world.  It has taken more than 11 years, and there have… Read More

Sols 935-936 More Contact Science at Garden City

23 March 2015

Last Friday we planned some additional contact science at “Garden City.”  Unfortunately, an error resulted in the loss of contact science during Sols 931-933.  A change needed in commanding is understood, and the rover is healthy and has not moved, so we’ll be… Read More

Names Approved for Two Craters on Mars

21 March 2015

The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the names Hunten and Choyr for two craters on Mars. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.

Sols 932-934 What’s Growing in Garden City

20 March 2015

While many of us in the northern hemisphere are celebrating the first day of spring, Curiosity is busy tending to her “Garden City.” Sadly there are no flowers in sight, but the outcrop contains some beautiful veins.  This MAHLI image from Sol 930 shows some of the complex… Read More

Sols 930-931: Arm Science

18 March 2015

The MAHLI team was well prepared for contact science today, but had to scramble to react to news early this morning that the right front wheel is perched on a small rock and therefore is not in a safe position for arm contact with the surface.  We had originally planned to brush a… Read More

Sols 928-929 Checking Out Garden City

16 March 2015

Over the weekend, Curiosity bumped closer to the target “Garden City” located in “Artist’s Drive.”  “Garden City” is an intriguing target because it contains a lot of really big veins, captured here in this Mastcam image from Sol 926. Today’s… Read More