Tag Archives: Naukluft Plateau

Curiosity: Scoping out the buttes

Posted on August 22, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1436, August 20, 2016. The mastcam, using its 100mm lens, shoots a portrait of one of the Murray Buttes. (This is the same butte seen in the Navcam image here.) This image shows its disintegrating rock layers more clearly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Smooth sailing

Posted on August 20, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1436, August 19, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: We are making good progress with our drives (we’re already approaching our next drill site!) and the road in front of us is looking pretty smooth. As usual we … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: 360° pan shows Murray Buttes

Posted on August 19, 2016 by rburnham

Eroded mesas and buttes reminiscent of the U.S. Southwest shape part of the horizon in the latest 360-degree color panorama from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. The rover used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to capture dozens of component images of this … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Big Butte

Posted on August 18, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1432, August 16, 2016. The rover’s Mastcam, using its 34mm lens, shot a 21-frame portrait of a nearby Murray Butte. Click the image above to enlarge it, and go here for a full-resolution version (5.3 MB). Sol 1432 raw … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Butte-iful scenery

Posted on August 17, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1433, August 17, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: Yestersol’s drive went nicely, so today the plan looks quite similar, with a remote sensing block followed by another 50 meters of driving! The Sol 1433 plan starts with … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity: Rear window view

Posted on August 16, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1432, August 16, 2016. As Curiosity drives between, then away from, the Murray Buttes, the Navcam looks back. A careful look at the large butte on the right shows “Balanced Rock” in profile on the left edge of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Crossing the sand

Posted on August 16, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1432, August 15, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ryan Anderson: The weekend plan went well, so the plan for Sol 1432 is to keep driving! Curiosity will go about 52 meters across a patch of sand, but before that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Power limited

Posted on August 13, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1429-31, August 12, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: MSL drove over 45 meters on Sol 1428, closer to the Murray Buttes.  I helped select ChemCam targets again this morning, and was glad to see that some of … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Downlink limited

Posted on August 12, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1428, August 11, 2016, update by USGS scientist Ken Herkenhoff: MSL drove 11 meters on Sol 1427, and a longer drive is planned for Sol 1428.  I helped select ChemCam targets today; the number of possible science observations was … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity update: Driving away

Posted on August 11, 2016 by rburnham

Sol 1427, August 10, 2016, update by USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: After successfully completing the drilling activities at Marimba, it’s time to get back on the road.  Today’s plan is focused on targeted remote sensing and driving.  The plan starts … Continue reading →

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off