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 4182-4183: We Reached the South Side of Pinnacle Ridge… What’s Next?
We planned quite a drive on Wednesday, with lots of twists and turns over very bumpy terrain, so the team was delighted to learn everything completed as planned when we received our downlink at ~4 am Pacific Time this morning!
Sols 4180-4181: Imaging fest!
Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 What a wonderful sight to see all the sedimentary structures. I am a geochemist, but I hear the excitement in the voices of my sediment-specialist colleagues, discussing all those textures and things to see.…
Sols 4178-4179: The Pinnacle Ridge Scarp
Earth planning date: Monday, May 6, 2024 Curiosity’s set of complex activities and drive over the weekend executed perfectly and we started our planning today directly in front of a scarp, or wall, along a section of the upper Gediz…
Sols 4175-4177: Don’t Blink We’re Taking a Picture
Curiosity loves to drive so it’s pretty rare we stay at a location longer than one planning cycle without the intention of drilling.
Sols 4173-4174: Reflections
Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Today’s planning was a little out of the ordinary. Not in terms of the plan itself, Curiosity’s team built an exciting plan utilizing much of its science toolkit. Today’s plan was unusual rather due…
Sols 4168-4170 Reaching the “Pinnacle” of Gediz Vallis Ridge (Pinnacle Ridge)
Earth planning date: Friday, April 26, 2024 Today we had a typically challenging Friday for planning. We are parked at the base of Pinnacle Ridge, with an interesting dark block named “Bilko Pinnacle” in our workspace (shown in the image). …
Sols 4171-4172: Scoot Over!
Earth planning date: Monday, April 29, 2024 On this two sol-planning day, the Curiosity science team logged in and found ourselves face to face with ‘Pinnacle Ridge’ (pictured above), part of the upper Gediz Vallis Ridge (uGVR). We saw two…
Sols 4166-4167: A Garden Full of Rocks
Earth planning date: Wednesday April 24, 2024 Here on Earth (in Toronto, specifically), it’s a very typical April which can’t quite make up its mind about whether or not it wants to be spring. On Mars (in Gale Crater), we’re…
Sols 4164-4165: What’s Around the Ridge-bend?
Earth planning date: Monday, April 22, 2024 Curiosity succeeded on a ~14 m drive along a bend in upper Gediz Vallis ridge (uGVR) to park next to “Pinnacle Ridge,” an outcrop of uGVR to the north. Benefitting from a…
Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science
Earth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024 Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. We have observations planned to investigate multiple bedrock targets with interesting rippled textures,…