Sol 876: Exciting New Software

The flight software transition is going well, and Curiosity is doing a test run of the new version.  Both the prime and backup rover computers are on track to commit to the upgrade by this weekend.  However, this means that it’s a pretty quiet week in terms of science operations.  In the meantime, the team is focused on all of the new MAHLI images that we’ve received of the latest drill hole and the surrounding rocks that were broken during drilling.

Speaking of new software, we’re looking forward to testing out the new OnSight software developed by a JPL team in collaboration with Microsoft.  The software uses holographic computing, and will allow scientists to study Curiosity’s worksite from a first-person view.  It sounds like this will provide a great new perspective and will be very useful for future planning! For more information on OnSight, check out the recent press release. 

By Lauren Edgar

--Lauren is a Research Geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of MSL science team.

Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.