By 
August 9th, 2023
Curiosity’s Location as of Sol 3912. Distance driven to that sol: 19.02 miles/30.61 kilometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3913 duties.
This past weekend, Curiosity officially completed its 11th (Earth) year on Mars, landing on the Red Planet the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT) 2012.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Curiosity has been busy conducting science activities as the milestone came and went. Just another hard day at work for the veteran rover,” reports Scott VanBommel, a planetary scientist at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Little more tired
“Our rover is a little more tired than 11 years ago. That’s to be expected though, 3911 diurnal cycles on Mars is grueling. That’s 3911 frigid Mars nights, 3911 cool (at best) Mars days, and nearly 100,000 hours of being bombarded by radiation from space after landing on Mars,” VanBommel explains. Toss in miles of hard-earned driving over often-grueling terrain.
“There have been analyses of samples from 38 drill holes and 6 scoops,” VanBommel adds.
Curiosity Front Hazard Avoidance Camera Left B Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
There’s been close to 3,000 commanded Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) analyses on solid samples. The robot has taken roughly 64,000 Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photos and nearly 220,000 commanded Mastcam images.
Workload
Also, the rover has produced in the neighborhood of 1 million Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) shots and roughly 6,000 ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photos as well as countless Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) activities and Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) pulses.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo produced on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
There’s been Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin) X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses of 43 samples totaling around 1,500 hours of measurement time and a similar workload for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite. Additionally, there have been loads of Hazard and Navigation camera images, and a full 11-year solar cycle monitored by the rover’s Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD).
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Stunning workspace
“All of these data, and more to come, relayed through Curiosity’s friends overhead back to Earth for analysis and interpretation by the science team and community,” VanBommel notes. “Curiosity was gifted a stunning workspace to kick off its 12th (Earth) year on Mars after a successful drive in the previous plan.”
Curiosity Left B Navigation Camera image taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
To start the first plan of its 12th year on Mars, Curiosity brushed the rock target “Ouranoupoli” and acquired an APXS analysis as well as MAHLI and Mastcam images.
Mastcam also acquired images of nearby ripples as well as of the targets “Sicyon,” “Orinoco,” and “Arachova,” the latter of which was also investigated by ChemCam. Curiosity also executed a one-hour drive, VanBommel reports.
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
Soul and determination
“Every day on Mars is a good day. Some may be more challenging than others, but that’s life on Mars,” VanBommel observes.
“One constant, through everything, is the soul and determination of this rover and its supporting cast, to soldier on, up the flanks of a mountain, inside a 3-4 billion year old crater, on a sparkling red dot low near the western horizon in this late summer’s evening sky,” VanBommel adds.
Curiosity Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) photo taken on Sol 3912, August 8, 2023.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL
“Happy birthday Curiosity, you are never truly alone,” VanBommel concludes.
Posted in Space News
