Curiosity Rover Updates
These updates are provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public. 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.
Sols 4307-4308: Bright Rocks Catch Our Eyes
Earth planning date: Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 We made good progress through Gediz Vallis in the weekend drive, landing in a segment of the channel containing a mix of loose rubble and other channel-filling debris. Amongst the jumbled scene, though,…
Sols 4304-4006: 12 Years, 42 Drill Holes, and Now… 1 Million ChemCam Shots!
Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 Today, I need to talk about ChemCam, our laser and imaging instrument on the top of Curiosity’s mast. It one of the instruments in the “head” that gives Curiosity that cute look as…
Sols 4302-4303: West Side of Upper Gediz Vallis, From Tungsten Hills to the Next Rocky Waypoint
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 The rover is on its way from the Tungsten Hills site to the next priority site for Gediz Vallis channel exploration, in which we plan to get in close enough for arm science…
Sols 4300-4301: Rippled Pages
Earth planning date: Monday, Sept. 9, 2024 With today’s plan, Curiosity completes its most southerly planned exploration of the Gediz Vallis channel. From here, our rover will head north and climb out of the channel to explore terrain to the…
Sols 4297-4299: This Way to Tungsten Hills
Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 6, 2024 Curiosity completed an impressive 60-meter drive (about 197 feet) across the channel floor within Gediz Vallis and parked along the edge of a shallow linear depression. Just about 20 meters (66 feet) away,…
Sols 4295-4296: A Martian Moon and Planet Earth
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024 Today’s two-sol plan contains the usual science blocks filled with contact science and remote science to observe and assess the geology surrounding us. However, the Mastcam team is hoping to capture a special…
Sol 4294: Return to McDonald Pass
Earth planning date: Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 Curiosity has returned to “McDonald Pass,” a block within Gediz Vallis that we first spotted about a month ago (as seen in the above Front Hazcam image). The block shows some interesting zonation…
Sols 4291-4293: Fairview Dome, the Sequel
Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 30, 2024 Our backwards drive to “McDonald Pass” got hung up on the steep slopes of “Fairview Dome,” but unlike a lot of movie sequels, our inadvertent return visit to Fairview Dome was at least…
Sols 4289-4290: From Discovery Pinnacle to Kings Canyon and Back Again
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Aug. 28 2024 We are back … almost, anyways. Today’s parking location is very close to where we parked on sol 4253, and in an area near one of the previous contact science targets “Discovery Pinnacle.”…
Sols 4287-4288: Back on the Road
Earth planning date: Monday, Aug. 26, 2024 Today’s planning day was a good example of how our team comes together to make quick decisions based on new information and science priorities. The original intent of today’s plan was to perform…