Curiosity update: Ridge rage

Sol 2434, June 10, 2019, update by MSL scientist Mariah Baker: It’s a good thing that Curiosity doesn’t have any competition on the road as she drives fervently across undulating terrain towards a large geologic ridge of unknown origin (informally named “Waypoint 4″). The weekend plan included a long 44-meter drive to put her in her current location (on a similar, but smaller ridge), and two more 25-meter drives were planned for this week to put her at a good vantage point for imaging the side of the ridge. But the team decided to put the pedal to the metal and try to make it to this ridgeline in just one drive. Ridge features are common throughout the Glen Torridon unit, so characterizing the morphology and chemical composition of these ridges can place important constraints on their formation and on the overarching geologic history of this region. This will be the goal of our investigation at Waypoint 4…. [More at link]