Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image from Curiosity’s Navcam Left B camera on Sol 1292, March 25, 2016.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover is looking at “gnarly” terrain ahead!

Now in Sol 1292, Curiosity made a drive of over 75 feet (23 meters) on Sol 1290.

According to Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, the plan is to keep driving across the Naukluft Plateau on the Red Planet.

“The terrain looks pretty rough, so we’re plotting our course carefully,” Edgar adds.

Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1292, March 25, 2016.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Science activities in a recent plan include Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) and Mastcam observations to assess the local bedrock, and a Mastcam mosaic to document the sedimentary structures exposed in that area.

The plan also includes some Mastcam observations to assess atmospheric opacity.

“After the drive, we’ll take our standard post-drive imaging to prepare for future targeting and the possibility of contact science in the weekend plan,” Edgar says.

Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1290, March 23, 2016.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

As always, planned rover activities are subject to change.

Curiosity’s Traverse Map Through Sol 1290
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1290 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (March, 24, 2016).
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (~0.62 mile). From Sol 1289 to Sol 1290, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 73.34 feet (22.35 meters).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona