Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1830, September 29, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover has just entered Sol 1831.

In a report by Michael Battalio, an atmospheric scientist from Texas A&M University in College Station, the robot has performed touch-and-go science on a dark-toned target named “Collingham” in the hopes that the darker color indicated either a different chemistry or reduced surface dust.

“Tra Tra” is the large outcrop at the top left of the above image, with Mt. Sharp is to the right.
Curiosity Navcam Left B photo taken on Sol 1829, September 28, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and the rover’s Mastcam will all cooperate on observing this target.

Imaging campaign

The rover’s Mastcam will continue a Vera Rubin Ridge imaging campaign by capturing a 13×1 mosaic of a prominent outcrop, named “Tra Tra,” which is a large outcrop. A stereo image was to be taken to ascertain the geometry of the bedding.

Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1830, September 29, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Curiosity was then slated to drive about 35 feet (11 meters) towards the top of a nearby ridge. Post-drive Navcam imaging is to be taken as well as use of automated software for imaging, Battalio reports.

Curiosity Mastcam Right image acquired on Sol 1828, September 27, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

New map

A new map has been posted showing the route driven by Curiosity through the 1827 Martian day,  or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars – as of September 27, 2017.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer mile From Sol 1822 to Sol 1827.

Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 30.86 feet (41 meters) bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.84 miles (17.45 kilometers).

The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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