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20 July 2018
Sols 2117-2119: "Ben" There
Curiosity made great progress yesterday across the ‘Vera Rubin Ridge’ toward the site of our next drilling attempt at ‘Sgurr of Eigg’.
19 July 2018
Sol 2116: Driving back to Sgurr of Eigg
The Sol 2115 wheel imaging went well, and we received the images needed to plan a drive back to ‘Sgurr of Eigg,’ near the Sol 1999 rover position.
18 July 2018
Sol 2115: New method of wheel imaging
The priorities for Sol 2115 are to image the rover’s wheels and acquire the images needed to plan a drive back to the Sol 1999 location, where we might start another drilling campaign.
17 July 2018
Sol 2114: Finishing Up at the Voyageurs Drill Site
After Curiosity’s attempt to drill the Voyageurs target did not reach sufficient depth due to the impressive hardness of the rock , the team is…heading a bit further uphill to find a more suitable (i.e., softer) drill target.
16 July 2018
Sol 2113: Hard as a rock
Unfortunately, we found out this morning that the ‘Voyageurs’ drill target was a much harder rock than expected. While our drill plan executed perfectly, our bit stopped short of the full depth we need for sampling.
13 July 2018
Sols 2110-2112: Let the drill fest begin!
Drilling on another planet is no easy feat, and each time we have the opportunity to do so on Mars feels pretty special. The focus of the weekend three-sol plan is to drill the target ‘Voyageurs,’ which is part of an outcrop that shows a high hematite signature in orbital data.
12 July 2018
Sol 2109: Voyageurs
Almost 2100 sols and countless exciting discoveries later, Curiosity is now poised to drill at the exact spot we first detected the strongest hematite signature over seven years ago. We’ve named the new drill target ‘Voyageurs’ after a National Park in northern Minnesota.
11 July 2018
Sol 2108: Back Towards Stranraer
After being out of commission for over a year, Curiosity’s drill is making not just a comeback, but a strong one, with imminent plans for a second drill hole within the span of 60 sols.
8 July 2018
Sol 2107: Heading Back to the Great Red Spot
…the entire scene looks a murky red-brown color due to the dust storm.
5 July 2018
Sol 2104-06: Have we reached the peak?
The amount of dust over Gale Crater has been slowly declining over the last two weeks and it’s possible the dust storm has reached its ‘peak.’
