Blogs

Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, Nov. 25, 2024 Today we planned a mammoth seven-sol plan, to cover the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday period. Unfortunately, our weekend drive ended a little early and we didn’t receive all of our needed confirmation imagery. At 7 feet high and weighing about 2,000 pounds, the rover itself is as big as […]
Posted December 3, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 For more than a year, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been climbing through layers of sulfate-rich rock in Gale Crater, where alternating thick light- and dark-toned bands are visible by satellite.
Posted December 3, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 Perseverance has been continuing its sightseeing tour of the Jezero crater rim, with this week’s travel itinerary including an up-close look at “Pico Turquino.” Here, the team hopes to investigate the history recorded in this approximately 200-meter-long region (about 656 feet) of exposed outcrop.
Posted December 2, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024 We planned two very full sols today! The sol 4369 drive completed successfully, and the rover was in a stable enough position that we could unstow the arm — something we don’t take for granted in the exceedingly rocky terrain of the sulfate unit! Today the team decided […]
Posted November 23, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, Nov. 18, 2024 I am in the U.K., where we are approaching the time when trees are just branches and twigs. One tree that still has its full foliage is my little quince tree in my front garden. Its leaves have turned reddish-brown with a hint of orange, fairly dark by […]
Posted November 21, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 The Monday plan and drive had executed successfully, so the team had high hopes for APXS and MAHLI data on several enticing targets in the rover’s workspace. Alas, it was not to be: The challenging terrain had resulted in an awkwardly perched wheel at the end of the […]
Posted November 19, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 After a successful 23-meter (about 75 feet) drive today in pre-planning we found ourselves in front of some rocks with a curious dark, platy topping. This is similar to material we have seen previously including over the weekend where MAHLI imaged “Buttress Tree.” This beautiful hand-lens image is […]
Posted November 13, 2024
Blogs
During its recent exploration of the crater rim, Perseverance diverted to explore a strange, scattered field of bright white rocks which sparked the interest of the team scientists.
Posted November 12, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Friday, Nov. 8, 2024 After the excitement of Wednesday’s plan, it was a relief to come in today to hear that the drive toward our exit from Gediz Vallis completed successfully and that we weren’t perched on any rocks or in any other precarious position. This made for a very smooth planning […]
Posted November 12, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 Sols 4357–4358: Turning West If you’ve ever driven down a road that’s in need of repaving, you’ll know that it can be an uncomfortable experience. The same is true on Mars: even at our carefully slow driving speed, the rough, rocky terrain that we’ve found ourselves in since […]
Posted November 9, 2024
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