Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1505, October 30, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Now in Sol 1505, the Curiosity rover made a recent drive of over 80 feet (25 meters) farther along on the “Mt. Sharp Ascent Route.”

We started the day with some challenges caused by connectivity issues with team members outside of the U.S,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. “They were able to get at least one computer connected to JPL, however, so we were able to plan without too much trouble overall.”

Bedrock changes

The plan for Sol 1503 was straightforward, starting off with a Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam) observation and Mastcam documentation of the target “Somesville.”

Anderson said the observations were designed to study how the composition of the bedrock changes across a light-to-dark transition.

Curiosity Mastcam Left image taken on Sol 1503, October 28, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

“After that, we will drive and then do post-drive imaging, including some extra Mastcam and Navcam coverage,” Anderson adds. On the script is long-distance imagery of Mt. Sharp taken this weekend.

Dates of planned rover activities are subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.