Curiosity Rover Updates

These updates are provided by self-selected Mars Science Laboratory mission team members who love to share what Curiosity is doing with the public. Dates of planned rover activities described in these reports are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.

Pale orange terrain on the surface of Mars, with a sandy area creating a reverse "L" shape anchored in the lower right corner of the frame and extending to the upper right and lower left corners. The rest of the frame is covered in uneven, rocky ground of the same color that resembles meringue or whipped, peaked frosting spread on a cake.

Sols 4226-4228: A Powerful Balancing Act

2 min read

Earth planning date: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 As documented in a previous blog last week, we continue to juggle power constraints as we focus on analyzing our newest drilled sample on Mars: “Mammoth Lakes 2.” Today, the star of the…

Article1 day ago

On Sol 4225, the focus for remote science was a ChemCam laser spectroscopic characterization and Mastcam imaging of “Horsetail Falls,” an area near the edge of the “Whitebark Pass” workspace slab.

Sol 4225: Sliding Down Horsetail Falls

2 min read

Earth planning date: Monday, June 24, 2024 This will be an important week for chemistry on our latest drill sample “Mammoth Lakes 2.” Curiosity’s primary goal today was a preconditioning of the SAM instrument in preparation for its chemical analysis.…

Article4 days ago

A patch of dry, hard, barren, orange-tan ground fills the frame, with a pronounced crack in the ground running from the lower-right to the bottom-center of the frame. In the middle is an oval patch in light tan, where the top soil has been scraped away, and to its right is a small hole in the ground looking like a tiny crater, with soil dug out of the hole crating a sloped wall around its edges.

Sols 4222-4224: A Particularly Prickly Power Puzzle

3 min read

Earth planning date: Friday, June 21, 2024 All our patient waiting has been rewarded, as we were greeted with the news that our drill attempt of “Mammoth Lakes 2” was successful! You can see the drill hole in the image…

Article1 week ago

There are many whiteish rocks in the area that lately attracted the team’s special interest, as this image, taken by Right Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4217 (2024-06-17 02:10:34 UTC) shows.

Sols 4219-4221: It’s a Complex Morning…

6 min read

Earth planning date: Monday, June 17, 2024 Who thought it was a good idea to select a name with the word ‘mammoth’ in it? Well, we don’t remember who did it, and if we did, we wouldn’t say anyways… but these rocks take…

Article2 weeks ago

A black and white photograph of the Mars surface, with some of the metallic structure of the Curiosity rover visible at bottom of the frame. Most of the upper three-quarters of the frame shows an area of flat, broken slabs of light-gray rock in front of the rover, surrounded by darker areas of soil and gravel. The slabs have two small, whitish, ellipitacal marks on their surfaces.

Sols 4216-4218: Another ‘Mammoth’ Plan!

4 min read

Earth planning date: Friday, June 14, 2024 At the start of this week, we did a preload test on the target “Mammoth Lakes,” the rightmost bright ellipse (DRT ellipse, so less dusty) on the workspace image above. The preload test…

Article2 weeks ago

MAHLI image of "Mammoth Lakes," which we had hoped would become our 41st drill hole after today's plan.

Sols 4214–4215: The Best-Laid Plans…

3 min read

Earth planning date: Wednesday, June 12, 2024 Planning today was defined by the decision about whether or not to drill at “Mammoth Lakes,” the potential drill target that we selected on Monday. This decision is made based on the answer…

Article2 weeks ago

The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. A black-and-white photo on the Martian surface is dominated in the lower half of the frame by a crosspiece of the Curiosity rover bearing its name, spelled in all-capitalized, white-outlined letters next to a white line drawing of the rover. The ground in front of it, visible from the middle to the upper part of the frame, appears as uneven, cracked slabs, with scattered small rocks beyond those.

Sols 4212-4214: Gearing up to Drill!

2 min read

Earth planning date: Monday, June 11, 2024 Curiosity is gearing up to drill! Last week, it encountered a rock with unusual coloration and texture that was just out of reach (you can read about it and see pictures here and…

Article2 weeks ago

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, on June 7, 2024, Sol 4207 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 04:20:07 UTC.

Sols 4209-4211: Just Out of Reach

4 min read

Earth planning date: Friday, June 7, 2024 Curiosity is going to have a busy 3-sol weekend. We have one more sol of intense contact science activities at this really beautiful and fascinating location before moving on. What makes this place…

Article3 weeks ago

Sols 4207-4208: A Taste of Rocky Road

2 min read

Earth planning date: Wednesday June 5, 2024 Curiosity was still at the ice cream shop for planning today, with the delicious feast of rock flavours still at arm’s reach and begging to be sampled. In the previous plan, one such flavour, captured…

Article3 weeks ago

This image was taken by Right Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4202 (2024-06-01 19:34:11 UTC).

Sols 4205-4206: Curiosity Would Like One of Each, Please!

3 min read

Earth planning date: Monday, June 3, 2024 You know that feeling at the ice cream shop when you’re presented with so many tantalizing options and you have to narrow it down to just a few to taste test, and then…

Article3 weeks ago