Tag Archives: Mars Science Laboratory

Curiosity starts drilling again

Posted on May 24, 2018 by rburnham

Engineers working with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover have been hard at work testing a new way for the rover to drill rocks and extract powder from them. This past weekend, that effort produced the first drilled sample on Mars in … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Characterizing a successful drill!

Posted on May 23, 2018 by rburnham

Sols 2059-60, May 23, 2018, update by MSL scientist Mark Salvatore: This past weekend, Curiosity successfully drilled into the “Duluth” rock target, generating a beautiful pile of drill tailings! This is a very exciting time for us on the rover … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Poised

Posted on May 21, 2018 by rburnham

Sols 2056-58, May 21, 2018, update by MSL scientist Michelle Minitti: This weekend, Curiosity will attempt to sink the drill into the complexly-layered “Duluth” block. Before that, she will gather more data from the “Blunts Point” member rocks in front … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Drill site perspectives from a Duluth native

Posted on May 18, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 2055, May 18, 2018, update by MSL scientist Roger Wiens: I was excited to learn earlier this week that my native city was chosen as the name of the latest drill site on Mars! The name was selected by … Continue reading →

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Restoring Curiosity’s percussion drilling ability

Posted on May 17, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Curiosity rover could soon be drilling rocks on Mars again. Engineers have been working for the past year to restore the rover’s full drilling capabilities, which were hampered in 2016 due to a mechanical problem. Later this weekend, they’ll … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Duluth at our feet… er, wheels

Posted on May 17, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 2054, May 16, 2018, update by MSL scientist Abigail Fraeman: Our sol 2054 plan was limited by a small morning downlink. Occasionally, the flight paths of the Mars orbiters over Gale Crater don’t have favorable geometries for relays with Curiosity, … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Duluth in full color

Posted on May 16, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 2052, May 15, 2018. The Mastcam used its 34mm optics to make a four-frame composite of the current target, Duluth, which has a thinly layered and delicately eroded structure. Click the image to enlarge it. Sol 2052 raw images … Continue reading →

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Curiosity update: Bump to Duluth

Posted on May 16, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 2053, May 15, 2018, update by MSL scientist Rachel Kronyak: A successful drive on Sol 2052 brought Curiosity within bumping distance of what will likely be our next intended drill target. The science team named this target “Duluth.” Duluth … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Curiosity’s home, Gale Crater

Posted on May 16, 2018 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, May 16, 2018. This VIS image shows much of the same location as yesterday’s image. Gale Crater is the home of the Curiosity Rover. The rover landed in August of 2012 and has been exploring … Continue reading →

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THEMIS: Gale Crater

Posted on May 16, 2018 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, May 15, 2018. This VIS image shows part of Gale Crater. Gale Crater is the home of the Curiosity Rover. More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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