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September 9th, 2016
Curiosity Front Hazcam Right B image taken on Sol 1455, September 9, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Curiosity Mars rover is in Sol 1456, photo facing the Murray Buttes region of lower Mount Sharp.
The Martian buttes and mesas rising above the surface are eroded remnants of ancient sandstone that originated when winds deposited sand after lower Mount Sharp had formed.
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1454, September 8, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
According to a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory release today: “The new images represent Curiosity’s last stop in the Murray Buttes, where the rover has been driving for just over one month. As of this week, Curiosity has exited these buttes toward the south, driving up to the base of the final butte on its way out. In this location, the rover began its latest drilling campaign (on Sept. 9). After this drilling is completed, Curiosity will continue farther south and higher up Mount Sharp, leaving behind these spectacular formations.”
Road map
Curiosity landed near Mount Sharp in 2012.
A newly issued road map for the rover shows the route driven by Curiosity through the 1452 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (September, 06, 2016).
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
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive.
North is up.
From Sol 1448 to Sol 1452, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 129.24 feet (39.39 meters).
Since touching down in August 2012, the wheeled Mars machinery has driven 8.76 miles (14.10 kilometers).
Curiosity Mastcam Right image taken on Sol 1454, September 8, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Posted in Space News
