Blogs

Blogs
We planned quite a drive on Wednesday, with lots of twists and turns over very bumpy terrain, so the team was delighted to learn everything completed as planned when we received our downlink at ~4 am Pacific Time this morning!
Posted May 10, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 8, 2024 What a wonderful sight to see all the sedimentary structures. I am a geochemist, but I hear the excitement in the voices of my sediment-specialist colleagues, discussing all those textures and things to see. Generally, it is those features that allow us to determine what has happened in terms […]
Posted May 9, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, May 6, 2024 Curiosity’s set of complex activities and drive over the weekend executed perfectly and we started our planning today directly in front of a scarp, or wall, along a section of the upper Gediz Valis ridge known as “Pinnacle Ridge.” The view along this scarp did not disappoint!  Mastcam planned a […]
Posted May 9, 2024
Blogs
Curiosity loves to drive so it’s pretty rare we stay at a location longer than one planning cycle without the intention of drilling.
Posted May 6, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Wednesday, May 1, 2024 Today’s planning was a little out of the ordinary. Not in terms of the plan itself, Curiosity’s team built an exciting plan utilizing much of its science toolkit. Today’s plan was unusual rather due to my role as APXS PUDL Reverse Shadow (PUDL = Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead). While I normally staff […]
Posted May 2, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Friday, April 26, 2024 Today we had a typically challenging Friday for planning. We are parked at the base of Pinnacle Ridge, with an interesting dark block named “Bilko Pinnacle” in our workspace (shown in the image).  This is the first block that is part of the Pinnacle Ridge part of the […]
Posted May 1, 2024
Blogs
Earth planning date: Monday, April 29, 2024 On this two sol-planning day, the Curiosity science team logged in and found ourselves face to face with ‘Pinnacle Ridge’ (pictured above), part of the upper Gediz Vallis Ridge (uGVR). We saw two types of rocks in our workspace: light-toned layered rocks and darker toned rocks. Rocks that […]
Posted May 1, 2024
Blogs
Curiosity (Rover)
Mars
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Earth planning date: Wednesday April 24, 2024 Here on Earth (in Toronto, specifically), it’s a very typical April which can’t quite make up its mind about whether or not it wants to be spring. On Mars (in Gale Crater), we’re well into spring, and Curiosity is enjoying the (relatively) warmer weather. As the days get […]
Posted April 25, 2024
Blogs
Curiosity (Rover)
Mars
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Earth planning date: Monday, April 22, 2024   Curiosity succeeded on a ~14 m drive along a bend in upper Gediz Vallis ridge (uGVR) to park next to “Pinnacle Ridge,” an outcrop of uGVR to the north. Benefitting from a surplus in power, Curiosity’s already substantial targeted science block was extended to 2 hours. This […]
Posted April 23, 2024
Blogs
Curiosity (Rover)
Mars
Earth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024 Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. We have observations planned to investigate multiple bedrock targets with interesting rippled textures, dark-toned float, and the ridge.
Posted April 23, 2024
Sign up for our newsletter:

Categories

4
4
22
Io
4
2
1
3
4
3
6
1
2
11
1
1
40
10
5
87
1
132
1
1
4
3
1
11
6
6
287
1
3
1
1
6
6
6
222
2
10
2
52
2
6
29
129
18
8
1
10
10
2
36
586
1
28
9
320
1
14
1
1
1
42
1
3
1
17
1
1
2
12
2
183
3
10
203
1
4
5
1

Recent Posts