Name Approved for Dune Field on Mars: Ogygis Undae
18 September 2015The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Ogygis Undae for a dune field on Mars. For more information, see the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
Sol 1108: Limited data for planning
17 September 2015The 16.6-meter drive planned for Sol 1107 completed as planned, placing the rover in front of the bright outcrop of interest. As expected, only a few post-drive images were received in time for Sol 1108 planning, which made it more difficult than usual to pick targets for remote sensing… Read More
Sol 1106: Searching for the Next Drilling Location
15 September 2015After some additional contact science on the Murray formation (of the location shown in the above Mastcam image), we’re now in search of a good sandstone for our next drill target. The goal of today’s plan is to drive towards a bright patch of blocky outcrop that was first identified… Read More
Sol 1105: Murray Formation Contact Science
14 September 2015Over the weekend, Curiosity had a successful ~ 21 m drive, and we’re currently parked in front of a beautiful outcrop of the Murray formation (shown in the bottom half of the above Navcam image, overlain by Stimson). We’ve mostly been driving through the Stimson unit for the… Read More
Sols 1102-1104: Arm error recovery
11 September 2015The Sol 1101 activities that we planned yesterday did not complete due to an arm error while it was being stowed. Apparently the shoulder azimuth motor was too cold, so the rover software halted the stow, which precluded the drive that was to follow. The rover is therefore in the same… Read More
Sol 1101: Driving into the Saddle
10 September 2015The 34-meter drive planned for Sol 1100 placed the rover at the edge of the small plateau, as intended, with a good view of a bright Murray Formation outcrop. The center of the Murray outcrop is the target of the drive planned for Sol 1101, which will hopefully put the vehicle in… Read More
Sol 1100: Swan, Sunburst, Studhorse, Sweetgrass Arch, and Silver Hill
9 September 2015The rover drove 34.5 meters on Sol 1099, as planned, to a good location for the imaging of the northwest wall of Bridger Basin. The Mastcam team verified that the pointing of the mosaic of that wall, planned to occur early on Sol 1100, is excellent. So the Sol 1100 plan includes… Read More
Sol 1099: Driving again
8 September 2015MSL did well over the long weekend, except that the Sol 1098 drive was halted after 13 meters of the planned 25 meters because the rover could not confirm that the path ahead was safe. So the plan for the Sol 1099 drive is essentially to complete the rest of the previously planned… Read More
Sols 1095-1098: Laboring away in the Stimson…
4 September 2015As many of us in the U.S. take a break over Labor Day weekend, Curiosity will be keeping busy by using every instrument in her science payload! Curiosity is currently making her way towards Bridger Basin and studying the Stimson unit along the way. The weekend 4-sol plan is packed with… Read More
Sol 1094: Turning in to Bridger Basin
3 September 2015The drive on Sol 1093 went well, and Curiosity drove ~15 m towards Bridger Basin. In the Sol 1094 plan, we’ll drive for ~30 m to round the turn into the basin, as we continue making our way through the Stimson unit. These rocks exhibit a lot of beautiful cross-bedding, as seen in… Read More
