Archive for the ‘Space News’ Category
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May 27th, 2017
Credit: Columbus Earth Center
Author and space philosopher Frank White coined the phrase “the Overview Effect” and defined it as “a cognitive shift in awareness” linked to “the experience of seeing first-hand the reality that the Earth is in space.”
The first international Overview Symposium is being held June 9-10 in Kerkrade, the Netherlands. The setting is the impressive Columbus Earth Center.
An international team of researchers, psychologists, philosophers, and scientists will facilitate keynotes, lectures, workshops, and debates. The unique audio-visual Earth gazing installation at the venue, Columbus Earth Center, as well as the latest in VR technology, will be experienced and analyzed by attendees of the symposium.
Common goal
Experts believe that the experience of this effect can greatly contribute to greater unity and peace among the populations of the Earth and the creation of a common goal: preservation and caring for the planet.
From space, borders and conflicts that divide humanity vanish. What remains is a shift in worldview and a shared need to protect the Earth.
The symposium will also mark the foundation of the Overview Laboratory Europe by Columbus Earth Center to continuously investigate and inform people about the existence, nature, and potential of the Overview Effect.
Resources
For more information on the symposium, go to:
https://www.overviewsymposium.com/
Also, go to:
http://www.columbusearththeater.nl/en/columbus
To view a special “zoom in & out” of the symposium venue in 2017: the Columbus Earth Center in Kerkrade, Netherlands, go to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCcBvi37fNE
Lastly, go to this informative and stunning video regarding the Overview Effect, go to:
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Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1707 May 26, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Now in Sol 1708, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is inspecting “White Ledge” along with “an otherworldly jumble of in-place bedrock, tilted rocks, sand with small ripples, and local pebbly debris piles,” reports Roger Wiens, Curiosity’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) principal investigator at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
“Vera Rubin Ridge continues to loom larger in the rover’s forward view, although progress is somewhat slow due to the difficult terrain,” Wiens explains.
The robot just made a drive of 52 feet (16 meters).
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1707, May 26, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Stay warm
“Just 20 sols ago we passed the northern vernal equinox, but the rover is ‘down under’ (at 4 degrees south latitude), so we’ve just started the fall season. For those readers in the Earth’s northern hemisphere, it’s like about October 1 on Earth. Over the next half of a Mars year (or nearly one Earth year) the rover will have a little less power for driving, arm deployment, and instrument activities as it spends a little more energy keeping itself warm,” Wiens reports.
The body of the rover is kept warm by a fluid loop that distributes heat from the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to the rover body, but the extremities (arm, wheels, and mast) need to be heated electrically.
“As a result, the rover will take one day to recharge its battery this weekend,” Wiens comments. “It’s a holiday weekend in the U.S. and much of Europe, so why shouldn’t Curiosity have a day off too?”
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1705, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
No holiday
Upcoming, there’s a “soliday,” but that’s not a rover holiday Wiens noted.
“In fact, it’s not a day on Mars at all. Rather, it’s an extra day we have on Earth every 37 Mars days due to the shorter day on Earth,” Wiens says. “So Mars has one less day for this holiday weekend. All told, the rover will be working two days this weekend.”
Wiens said that the “beautiful White Ledge” that’s right in front of the rover is captivating, so the science team has decided to spend two Mars days doing lots of analyses.
That involves interrogating the ledge with two different arm placements, an evening Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) integration on a location named “Patty Lot Hill,” and an APXS night integration on “White Ledge” after using the dust removal tool (DRT).
Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is slated to take images of these targets the following sol.
Extra precaution
“We are taking extra precautions in case the rather thin ledge breaks when we place the arm on it. We are also interrogating the ledge with Mastcam and ChemCam,” Wiens pointed out.
Other ChemCam targets include “Shooting Ledge” (a rocky ridge just behind “White Ledge”), “Middle Ledge” behind and to the left, and “Halfway Mountain,” a sand ripple crest.
Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite is doing an atmospheric measurement. The robot’s Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) and Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) are taking measurements this weekend too, “so it is an ‘all-instruments’ weekend,” Wiens adds, except for the Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction/X-Ray Fluorescence Instrument (CheMin).
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1705, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Good vantage point
Curiosity is posed to drive “to a good vantage point,” Wiens concludes, roughly 60 feet (20 meters) from its present spot.
“We also managed to slip in Mastcam Sun observations and a ChemCam sky spectral observation on Tuesday morning — Sol 1712 — before the next uplink of activities from Earth,” Wiens concludes.
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF ARIZONA
Travelogue map
Just issued is a Curiosity traverse map through Sol 1707.
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1707 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 26, 2017). 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 1705 to Sol 1707, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 45.15 feet (13.76 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.26 miles (16.52 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
From left to right: Arnold Aldrich, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space Shuttle Program Management; Michael Collins, Gemini 10, Apollo 11; Walt Cunningham, Apollo 7; Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17; Al Worden, Apollo 15.
Credit: The Ohio State University/Kevin Fitzsimons
Earlier this month, former Apollo astronauts, current and former NASA administrators, space managers and engineers, and an expert on space law were among the panelists on the Ohio State University (OSU) campus for the Armstrong Space Symposium.
The May 8 event preceded the formal installation of aerospace innovator John M. Horack as the university’s first Neil Armstrong Chair in Aerospace Policy.
Moon or Mars?
Discussion centered on whether humans should venture next to the Moon or Mars, how to get there, and who will get there first.
Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden advised: “I think there may be a confluence of events in the world today that will predicate another landing on the Moon, but it won’t be [by the United States]…I think it might be China.”
Apollo astronaut, Al Worden.
Credit: The Ohio State University/Kevin Fitzsimons
Countering that view is Apollo 17’s Jack Schmitt, but added that he did agree that China has big ambitions in space. “They understand what we taught them with Apollo,” he said. “Dominating space is a critical step toward dominating the geopolitical culture of the Earth.”
Retiring looks
Worden said that he favors Mars as the next target for exploration, but suggested that being an 85-year-old retiree gives him the ideal mix of patience and fortitude for the tedious months-long journey.
“I can sit all day and watch TV and not get bored,” Worden suggested. “Send an old man!”
Apollo 11’s Michael Collins.
Credit: The Ohio State University/Kevin Fitzsimons
Apollo 7’s Walt Cunningham explained why he and his fellow astronauts felt they were up to the task back then, despite their young age: “We were all fighter pilots and test pilots, and we knew what we could do.”
Looking at today’s commercial space ventures such as SpaceX, Apollo 11’s Michael Collins said that they don’t have the imprimatur of the U.S. government, but they are more agile. Still, he added: “I don’t think [Elon] Musk understands the enormity of a Martian mission. It makes Apollo look like child’s play.”
Resources
To catch up with the Armstrong Space Symposium and Chair Installation, go to these informative videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgv9uq_bmKelH9ZwuYaUqEeoLxd0bzcKr
Also, an overview of the event is available by Pam Frost Gorder of University Communications at The OSU. Go to:
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1705, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Now in Sol 1707, the NASA Curiosity Mars rover recently completed a drive of 48 feet (14.6 meters).
Following that drive, scientists decided against robot arm activities due to a lack of compelling targets and in deference to making the next drive longer.
Bedrock science
Michael Battalio, an atmospheric scientist at Texas A&M University reports that on Sol 1707, the rover’s Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) will capture a raster of the “White Cap Mountain” bedrock, as well as a patch of dark undisturbed soil called “French Hill Pond.”
Curiosity Navcam Left B image taken on Sol 1705, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s Mastcam is slated to document all of the ChemCam targets and will image “Googings Ledge” – a large, darker bedrock — and “The Twinnies,” a shadowed bedrock exposure cut off which are sedimentary members of the Murray formation, as well as “Soward Island,” which has exposed bedrock layers.
Next drive
Battalio notes that after a planned drive of nearly 100 feet (30 meters), ChemCam will perform an Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) automated activity, and Navcam will document Curiosity’s new position.
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image taken on Sol 1706, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite is on tap to perform a methane dual enrichment activity on Sol 1709, which will compare a methane-enriched atmospheric sample to a non-enriched sample, Battalio adds.
When SAM takes atmospheric methane or oxygen measurements, Mars environmental specialists like to obtain a ChemCam passive sky observation within a few sols for an independent comparison. However, the times initially available in the plan around mid-sol to place a passive sky, Battalio points out, were not compatible with possible pointing azimuths, as we are so close to the new year (northern hemisphere spring equinox).
Weekend plan: power restrictions
“In anticipation of potential power restrictions in the weekend plan, we attempted a long morning imaging suite a couple of sols early, which would include a passive sky measurement; however, we were forced to defer those plans due to power restrictions in the current plan,” Battalio reports.
“Instead of losing the science time altogether, we noticed that the mid-sol time was compatible for taking a ChemCam calibration measurement. This calibration will be taken on Sol 1708 in preparation for the next passive sky,” Battalio explains. “This just proves that while doing science on another planet can be frustrating at times, it is always rewarding.”
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1705, May 23, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Ingest time
On Sol 1708, the plan calls for a 30-minute Navcam dust devil movie to be taken around noon on Sol 1708.
The robot’s Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) is also slated to capture the standard top-of-the-hour 5 minute observations and 19 hour-long observation blocks, Battalio says, which will include observations during the “ingest times” of the SAM methane activity.
Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1705, May 24, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Also, the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment will take approximately 9 hours of passive and 20 minutes of post-drive active observations.
Road map
Meanwhile, a new Curiosity traverse map through Sol 1705 has been issued.
IMAGE CREDIT: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF ARIZONA
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1705 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 22, 2017). 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 1703 to Sol 1705, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 23.43 feet (7.14 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.25 miles (16.50 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Earth orbit is a junkyard of human-made space clutter.
Credit: Space Junk 3D, LLC. Melrae Pictures
A passionate plea to curb space waste issues – that’s at the heart of a patent pending Solar Space Waste Incineration System.
According to John Arwood the idea is a unique step forward in dealing with the growing problem of orbiting space waste and junk. His system, he explains, is a solution that can provide a way of managing waste from orbiting inhabited structures to prevent adding to the problem of orbiting space garbage.
Burning up trash
“This solution will also be able to remove non-functioning satellites by towing them to the Sun for solar incineration,” Arwood’s website explains. At a distance of approximately 1.1 million miles from the Sun, the invention and its entire cargo would be incinerated by the Sun’s heat.
Patent Pending: Solar Space Waste Incineration System.
Credit: Space Waste Solutions
“An advantage of this method of incineration over using the Earth’s atmosphere is that this prevents adding unintended residual by-products to the atmosphere,” Arwood explains.
Given that there are at least 23,000 orbiting objects larger than 2-4 inches and far more objects of smaller sizes, Arwood notes that much of this space debris contains toxic and hazardous materials.
Waste not
“We must respond to the challenge of cleaning up this existing space waste while developing strategies that support growth in space tourism and exploration,” Arwood’s website points out.
By tapping the talents and technology of the waste management industry and other approaches, “we can find realistic solutions to existing and future space waste problems.”
Every inhabited building, hotel, home, space station, etc must properly plan for the sanitary handling and disposal waste. Types of waste to consider might be both human and material in nature.
Week of June 17th: Global Garbage Man Day
Credit: Garbage Man Day
Space tourism
Looking out to the emerging space tourism industry and comfy homes for space travelers, Arwood asks: What is the plan for disposing of the old lighting, furniture, building materials, etc? Are they simply ejected into orbit to join the over 23,000 existing pieces of space junk already cluttering the heavens? Can the waste be incinerated or recycled on location? Is it collected and transported back to Earth for proper disposal?
“No matter the answers, now is the time to ask the questions,” Arwood concludes. “Developing space waste solutions for the emerging space tourism industry will make your Earth orbiting hotel stay much more enjoyable in the future.”
For more information on Space Waste Solutions, go to:
Putting some zeal into New Zealand – Rocket Lab’s Electron booster lifts off on maiden flight.
Credit: Rocket Lab
The private Rocket Lab orbital-class booster was successfully launched from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand.
While the Electron rocket’s maiden flight was heralded by the group, the vehicle did not reach orbit.
Peter Beck, CEO and founder of Rocket Lab, said in a press statement: “It was a great flight. We had a great first stage burn, stage separation, second-stage ignition and fairing separation. We didn’t quite reach orbit and we’ll be investigating why, however reaching space in our first test puts us in an incredibly strong position to accelerate the commercial phase of our program, deliver our customers to orbit and make space open for business.”
Next tests
The launch was the first of three test flights scheduled for this year.
Rocket Lab’s New Zealand launch site.
Credit: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab will target getting to orbit on the second test and look to maximize the payload the rocket can carry.
According to the private group, at full production, Rocket Lab expects to launch more than 50 times a year, and is regulated to launch up to 120 times a year.
Rocket Lab’s commercial phase will see Electron fly already-signed customers including NASA, Spire, Planet, Moon Express and Spaceflight.
Space economy
According to the newly created New Zealand Space Agency: “New Zealand’s unique location and conditions make it an attractive choice for an increasing amount of space activity.”
Credit: Mark Gee
The site explains that one of the world’s first private orbital launch ranges is sited on our North Island’s east coast ready for frequent rocket launches.
“High altitude balloons are lifting off from the South Island, and a new research institute plans to develop satellite data products to drive regional economic growth,” the site adds.
“We have scientists involved in international astronomy teams searching for planets orbiting distant stars, and companies and students building satellites. We have engineers and technologists working in space-related activities such as in advanced materials and rocketry. Our space economy is taking off!”
Visible sign
In a post-launch statement, the rocket launch is viewed as a huge step for New Zealand’s space industry by the country’s Minister for Economic Development, Simon Bridges.
“Today’s successful launch is a major milestone in the development of New Zealand’s space industry,” Bridges said in a press statement. “It is the first visible sign of a space industry in New Zealand and is an achievement Rocket Lab, and all New Zealanders can be proud of.”
The statement also notes that New Zealand is now one of 11 countries currently able to launch satellites into space from their own territory and the first to launch from a fully private orbital launch range.
Space tourism
“The potential benefits for our economy are very significant. These include opportunities to grow in areas related to the space industry such as research, materials development and testing, and to attract other space related companies to set up in New Zealand, and even space tourism,” Bridges said. “The Government is supportive of any industry that grows our economy through high-tech, innovative highly skilled activities.”
A range of government agencies, led by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, is also ensuring launch activities are safe and secure.
“We hope the launch will encourage others to come to New Zealand and enjoy the same attractive features that Rocket Lab is taking advantage of, including good access to orbits, clear skies, a skilled workforce and an innovation friendly environment,” Bridges concluded
Go to this Electron launch video:
https://twitter.com/RocketLabUSA/status/867612663764762624
For more information on Rocket Lab, go to:
Credit: Boeing
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today they are collaborating with Beoing to design, build and test a technology demonstration vehicle for the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program.
Boeing’s Phantom Express aims to enable faster, more affordable small satellite launches.
In a Boeing statement, the aerospace firm will develop an autonomous, reusable spaceplane capable of carrying and deploying a small expendable upper stage to launch small (3,000 pound/1,361 kg) satellites into low Earth orbit.
Boeing and DARPA will jointly invest in the development.
Disrupt and transform
Once Phantom Express reaches the edge of space, it would deploy the second stage and return to Earth. It would then land on a runway to be prepared for its next flight by applying operation and maintenance principles similar to modern aircraft.
“Phantom Express is designed to disrupt and transform the satellite launch process as we know it today, creating a new, on-demand space-launch capability that can be achieved more affordably and with less risk,” said Darryl Davis, president, Boeing Phantom Works.
Phantom Express Technical Specifications
Length 100 ft (30.5 m)
Height 24 ft (7.3 m)
Diameter 13.7 ft (4.1 m)
Wing Span 62 ft (19 m)
Engine 1 Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-22
Fuel Liquid hydrogen
Oxidizer Liquid oxygen
Credit: Boeing
Legacy shuttle engines
Aerojet Rocketdyne also announced today it was selected to provide the main propulsion for the Boeing/DARPA XS-1. The main propulsion is based on the legacy space shuttle main engines (SSME).
For the XS-1 program, Aerojet Rocketdyne is providing two engines with legacy shuttle flight experience to demonstrate reusability, a wide operating range and rapid turnarounds. These engines will be designated as AR-22 engines and will be assembled from parts that remained in both Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA inventories from early versions of the SSME engines. Assembly and ground testing will take place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.
Phantom Express is envisioned as a highly autonomous experimental spaceplane, shown preparing for launch in this artist’s concept.
Credit: Boeing
Demonstration flights
Phantom Express would offer an advanced airframe design as well as third-generation thermal protection to create a vehicle capable of flying at high flight velocity, while carrying a smaller, more affordable expendable upper stage to achieve the mission objectives.
In the test phase of the program, Boeing and DARPA plan to conduct a demonstration of 10 flights over 10 days.
A DARPA statement notes that the XS-1 Phase 2 includes design, construction, and testing of the technology demonstration vehicle through 2019. It calls for initially firing the vehicle’s engine on the ground 10 times in 10 days to demonstrate propulsion readiness for flight tests.
Phase 3 objectives include 12 to 15 flight tests, currently scheduled for 2020. After multiple shakedown flights to reduce risk, the XS-1 would aim to fly 10 times over 10 consecutive days, at first without payloads and at speeds as fast as Mach 5. Subsequent flights are planned to fly as fast as Mach 10, and deliver a demonstration payload between 900 pounds and 3,000 pounds into low Earth orbit.
Check out this video at:
Artist impression of the Schiaparelli module with parachute deployed.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
A European Space Agency (ESA) and industry inquiry into last year’s crash-landing of the ExoMars Schiaparelli module on the Red Planet has concluded that conflicting information in the onboard computer caused the descent sequence to end prematurely.
According to a just-released final report, the Schiaparelli demonstrator was very close to successfully landing on Mars at the planned location.
Six-minute descent
The Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator module separated from its mothership — the now orbiting Mars, Trace Gas Orbiter — as planned on October 16, 2016 and coasted towards Mars for three days.
Much of the six-minute descent onto Mars on October 19 went as expected: the module entered the atmosphere correctly, with the heatshield protecting it at supersonic speeds. Sensors on the front and back shields collected useful scientific and engineering data on the atmosphere and heatshield.
Schiaparelli’s heatshield was equipped with a variety of sensors designed to take measurements as the module entered the atmosphere. The Combined Aerothermal and Radiometer Sensors Instrument Package, COMARS+, used sensors on the back heatshield to measure pressure, temperature and heat flux. System sensors on the front shield were monitored by the data housekeeping system.
Credit: ESA/ATG medialab
Real-time telemetry
Telemetry from Schiaparelli was relayed to the main craft, which was entering orbit around the Red Planet at the same time – the first time this had been achieved in Mars exploration. This real-time transmission proved invaluable in reconstructing the unfolding chain of events.
At the same time as the orbiter recorded Schiaparelli’s transmissions, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter also monitored the lander’s carrier signal, as did the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope in India.
Root causes
In the report, the following root causes for the mishap have been identified:
– Insufficient uncertainty and configuration management in the modeling of the parachute dynamics which led to expect much lower dynamics than observed in flight;
– Inadequate persistence time of the craft’s inertial measurement unit (IMU) saturation flag and inadequate handling of IMU saturation by the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) hardware;
– Insufficient approach to Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery and design robustness;
– Mishap in management of subcontractors and acceptance of hardware.
Planned descent sequence of Schiaparelli Mars lander.
Credit: ESA
Spin rate
Also noted in the report is an unexpected evolution of the spin rate of the Entry, descent and landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) with no apparent links to the landing failure. The root cause of this anomaly is believed to be linked with uneven degradation of thermal blankets during entry and a possible slight twist in the parachute riser after deployment.
Within this report general recommendations to avoid such defects and weaknesses have been established and specific recommendations for the ExoMars 2020 lander mission have also been established.
To read the full report — EXOMARS 2016 – Schiaparelli Anomaly Inquiry — go to:
http://exploration.esa.int/mars/59176-exomars-2016-schiaparelli-anomaly-inquiry/
All the obstacles in spaceflight can theoretically be broken down in to subsets of risk.
Whether personal risk, programmatic risk, financial risk or professional risk, these are the things holding back individuals and organizations from accomplishing goals.
What does this mean for Mars and how can we overcome it?
Next steps
I was pleased to sit down with Jake Robins, the host and producer of WeMartians Podcast.
Credit: National Geographic/WeMartians Podcast
We explored the topic of risk and discussed what steps must be taken next to continue towards the objective of putting people on the Red Planet.
The WeMartians Podcast delves into all aspects of the exploration of Mars, including robotic/human spacecraft and rocket engineering, planetary science, astronomy and other upcoming technology. The episodes are research-supported and feature topical audio clips and special guests.
Resources
The WeMartians Podcast is available on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and Google Play Music.
Find it in your favorite Podcatcher app.
Go to:
Episode 24 – Risks and Rewards (feat. Leonard David)
Curiosity Front Hazcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1703, May 21, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 1705 duties.
Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California reports that Curiosity is continuing to make progress towards Vera Rubin Ridge along the Mt. Sharp ascent route.
In the planning of two sols — Sol 1705 and Sol 1706 – the script calls for remote sensing science on the bedrock in front of the robot, including Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of targets: “Turtle Island,” “Stony Brook,” and “Dike Peak.”
Fracture fills
“Turtle Island is typical Murray bedrock, Stony Brook has an interesting dark streak running through it, and Dike Peak is a neat looking block with dark colored fracture fills,” Fraeman notes. “We will complement these observations with Mastcam documentation imaging.”
Curiosity Navcam Left B image acquired on Sol 1703, May 22, 2017.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The plan then calls for the rover to take a short drive and perform post-drive imaging, as well as a ChemCam Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) observation.
Challenging terrain
On the second sol of the plan, Fraeman explains, “Curiosity will be focused on taking atmospheric observations, including a dust devil search and images of the crater rim and sky above us.”
“We didn’t drive as far as we thought we would over the weekend. Software onboard Curiosity sensed the rover was struggling to travel over the challenging terrain more than we had anticipated, so it ended the drive early,” Fraeman notes.
Curiosity Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo taken on Sol 1702, May 21, 2017. MAHLI is located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Fraeman adds that she spent a shift looking at the Navcam and Hazcam data to understand what about the terrain was causing problems, and thinking about new paths to take that would still get the rover to the desired locale.
“I’m optimistic about our new drive route,” Fraeman concludes, “and I’m very glad we have six-wheel drive to help us climb this mountain!”
Curiosity Mastcam Right image acquired on Sol 1702, May 20, 2017.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
New map
A new map of Curiosity’s traverse across Mars through Sol 1700 has been issued by JPL.
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1700 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (May 20, 2017).
Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/UNIV. OF ARIZONA
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 1698 to Sol 1700, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 98.00 feet (29.87 meters), bringing the rover’s total odometry for the mission to 10.24 miles (16.48 kilometers).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
