Tag Archives: Mars Science Laboratory

Curiosity update: Let the drilling proceed!

Posted on April 5, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2368, April 5, 2019, update by MSL scientist Mark Salvatore: Today marks the conclusion of the MSL Science Team Meeting currently taking place at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. These meetings are where scientists and engineers can come … Continue reading →

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Latest weather at Gale Crater and Elysium Planitia

Posted on April 5, 2019 by rburnham

Daily Elysium charts and data (temperature, wind speed, atmospheric pressure) here.

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Curiosity catches two solar eclipses

Posted on April 4, 2019 by rburnham

When NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover landed in 2012, it brought along eclipse glasses. The solar filters on its Mast Camera (Mastcam) allow it to stare directly at the Sun. Over the past few weeks, Curiosity has been putting them to … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Checking out Aberlady

Posted on April 4, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2367, April 4, 2019. The rover’s ChemCam laser stitched a row of pits across Aberlady (above). At right, the front Hazcam showed the scene with Curiosity’s instrument arm close to the target. (Compare this view with that here.) Click … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Luck be an Aberlady

Posted on April 4, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2367, April 3, 2019, update by MSL scientist Michelle Minitti: Our short drive on Monday was successful, bringing two candidate drill targets into closer, clearer view. The prime candidate (image above), “Aberlady,” appeared to have the same color, structure … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Outcrop workspace

Posted on April 3, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2365, April 2, 2019. Curiosity has driven to where it can examine the outcrop where mission scientists hope to make the next drill hole. (For more about the drill planning, see here.) This composite of six Mastcam (34mm) frames … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Edging closer and closer to a new drill target!

Posted on April 2, 2019 by rburnham

Sols 2365-66, April 2, 2019, update by MSL scientist Catherine O’Connell-Cooper: One of the primary goals of the Curiosity mission, to determine the composition of a region which appears to be rich in clays (informally known as “Glen Torridon”), is … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Mastcam looks ahead

Posted on April 2, 2019 by rburnham

Sol 2364, April 1, 2019. The rover’s Mastcam (34mm lens) looked ahead across the Glen Torridon clay-bearing unit, with Mt. Sharp rising in the distance and the southern side of Vera Rubin Ridge at left. These five frames are part … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Drilling on the horizon?

Posted on April 1, 2019 by rburnham

Sols 2363-64, April 1, 2019, update by MSL engineer Ashley Stroupe: Curiosity is getting close to the area in which we next want to drill. We are possibly as close as 2-3 drives (including today’s) away from our next drill … Continue reading →

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Rivers raged on Mars late into its history

Posted on April 1, 2019 by rburnham

Long ago on Mars, water carved deep riverbeds into the planet’s surface — but we still don’t know what kind of weather fed them. Scientists aren’t sure, because their understanding of the Martian climate billions of years ago remains incomplete. … Continue reading →

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