Tag Archives: Stimson Formation

Curiosity: Bumps ahead

Sol 1294, March 27, 2016. Guided by rover drivers using Navcam shots and HiRISE images from orbit, Curiosity is working its way westward across the Stimson Formation’s broken sandstone layers on the Naukluft Plateau. (Click image to enlarge.) Sol 1294 … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: Contact science and driving

Sol 1293-95, March 25, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: On Sol 1292, Curiosity drove 6 m to the northwest, which put us in a good position for contact science over the weekend.  The three-sol plan starts with ChemCam … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: Gnarly terrain ahead

Sol 1292, March 24, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: Data was recovered from the missing MRO pass on Sol 1290, and we confirmed that the 23 m drive went well.  Today’s plan is to keep driving across the … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: Another curveball

Sol 1291, March 23, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: Mars is certainly keeping us on our toes this week, and reminding us how challenging it can be to do remote operations on another planet.  We use two satellites … Continue reading

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Opportunity: Moving higher for firmer ground & clay minerals

Sol 4323, March 23, 2016. Opportunity is exploring Marathon Valley because orbital spectrometry found exposures of water-altered clay minerals in the valley. But with the ground proving too loose to allow Opportunity to reach its intended outcrop target at Pvt. … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: A good vantage point

Sol 1290, March 22, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: The drive on Sol 1290 was successful, and Curiosity drove ~15 m to the north.  We are currently sitting on top of a ridge in the Stimson formation, which … Continue reading

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Curiosity: Ancient dune field, now rock, points to different past climate

Sol 1288, March 21, 2016. Curiosity is driving across the Naukluft Plateau. This is part of the Stimson Formation, a flat-lying, thin-layered sandstone with crossbedded features that indicate it was once a field of dunes. (Click image to enlarge.) According … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: Third time’s the charm?

Sol 1289, March 21, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: The science that we planned over the weekend went smoothly, and we acquired some beautiful MAHLI and Mastcam images.  However, the drive that was planned for Sol 1288 did … Continue reading

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Curiosity: Long shots, continued

Sol 1286, March 19, 2016. Continuing its multi-frame profiling at long distance, the Remote Mirco-Imager shoots more layers and buttes on the visible face of Mt. Sharp. Click to enlarge. Sol 1286 raw images (from all cameras), and Curiosity’s latest … Continue reading

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Curiosity update: Blame it on the leprechauns

Sol 1286-88, March 18, 2016, update from USGS scientist Lauren Edgar: St. Patrick’s Day on Mars didn’t quite go as planned.  Yesterday we planned a ~15 m drive to a nearby ridge, but we came in this morning to find … Continue reading

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