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27 July 2019
Sol 2478 – 2480 – Goin’ Up
Over the last few weeks Curiosity has collected hundreds of spectacular images, like the one above, that document the layers and textures of rocks exposed in the ‘Visionarium.’
3 June 2019
Sols 2422-2423: Familiar rocks at our feet
On Sol 2420 Curiosity drove ~61 m back to the ‘Woodland Bay’ target, to analyze some interesting thick and thin laminations within the bedrock that we had observed previously, and to characterize compositional diversity.
28 May 2019
Sols 2419-2421: Easy Driving
We’ve left multiple tracks across the cobblestone plain of Glen Torridon. This image shows our current view to the northeast, with the slope of Mount Sharp on the right and the scarp of Vera Rubin Ridge on the left.
14 May 2019
Sol 2407: Turning our wheels
We’re driving today! …but only about three meters.After weeks of staying put while we completed drilling activities at ‘Kilmarie,’ Curiosity is stretching her wheels.
28 April 2019
Sol 2393-2394: Putting the L in MSL
“On sol 2393 the afternoon science block is dedicated to atmospheric observations. Navcam will watch for dust devils and clouds, and Mastcam will look at the sun and the sky to figure out how much dust is in the atmosphere and what its properties are.”
26 April 2019
Sols 2390-2393: Confirmation of another taste of the "Clay-Bearing Unit", as good as the first?
“We are particularly interested in whether this sample from the ‘Clay-Bearing Unit,’ Glen Torridon area, does in fact contain clay (as have the majority of drilled samples), and if it does, how much is present and what type of clay mineral is it?”
28 January 2019
Sols 2304-2305: In the Clay Unit
Today’s plan found Curiosity solidly in new territory and the view couldn’t be more different than the patchy bedrock of the Vera Rubin Ridge.
27 January 2019
Sols 2301-2303: Looking Forward to the Clay-Bearing Unit
This weekend’s plan started off on Sol 2301 with some Mastcam atmospheric observations, followed by ChemCam analysis of ‘Loch Ness’ and ‘Loch Skeen,’ examples of brown and gray bedrock.
23 January 2019
Sol 2300: Beam me up Scotty!
Curiosity is on the brink of descending down off the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR) onto the clay-bearing unit. We are hoping to ‘beam up’ lots of interesting new data to the Mars orbiters…
22 January 2019
Sol 2299: Melrose Place
Curiosity is continuing the first phase of its journey to the ‘clay-bearing unit,’ the low elevation portion in the middle distance of this Navcam image with a series of ‘touch-and-go’ driving sols.
21 January 2019
Sol 2298: Commencement of the Clay-Bearing Unit Campaign
Curiosity has moved for the first time since December 13, 2018. More importantly, Curiosity is moving to a new geological unit that we have so far called the ‘Clay-Bearing Unit’ (CBU).
18 January 2019
Sols 2295-2297: Just can’t wait to get on the road again
Sometimes the best laid plans of rovers go astray. After wrapping up at the Rock Hall drill site yesterday, the plan was for Curiosity to start driving towards the clay-bearing unit (our first drive in about a month)…
17 January 2019
Sols 2293-2294: On the road again
It has been a productive stay at the ‘Rock Hall’ drill site.
16 January 2019
Sol 2292: Dust to Dust
Gale Crater has become a lot dustier in recent sols (days) due to a regional dust storm in the southern hemisphere that was spotted by the Mars Climate Sounder team, so we added several extra environmental observations…
14 January 2019
Sol 2291: Selfie time at Rock Hall: say cheese!
Today we planned a single sol of activities, Sol 2291. As we begin to wrap up our activities at the Rock Hall drill site, Sol 2291 is chock full of science observations.
11 January 2019
Sol 2288-2290: Drilling activity completed, almost.
We will soon be leaving the Rock Hall area, thus this one last look at the drill site from a hazard camera perspective. Seeing those holes always is special, even for #19!
10 January 2019
Sols 2286-2287: Starting the wrap-up at Rock Hall
Curiosity’s onboard instruments SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) and CheMin (Chemistry and Mineralogy) have come to the end of their investigation of the Rock Hall target, likely to be our last drill location on the Vera Rubin Ridge…
8 January 2019
Sols 2284-2285: A spectra-cular Monday on Mars
A Front Hazcam image taken on Sol 2282 shows part of the landscape around the Curiosity rover, including some of the rocks that will be analyzed further with ChemCam.
7 January 2019
Sols 2281-2283: It’s a wonderful day for SAM!
Today we are continuing Curiosity’s drill campaign at our red Jura target ‘Rock Hall.’
3 January 2019
Sols 2279-2280: Happy 2019, Earthlings!
The holiday planning completed successfully and included 10 sols of five-hour-long morning meteorological observations…