Curiosity’s Mastcam Left instrument took this image on Sol 1294, March 27, 2016. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity’s Mastcam Left instrument took this image on Sol 1294, March 27, 2016.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1296 after making a drive of 55 feet (17 meters) on Sol 1294.

Images relayed from the robot show delicate features that have apparently been formed by windblown sand abrasion, notes Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Bedrock targets

On its current sol, Curiosity faces a path of more rough terrain, but it looks like the rover will be able to drive approximately 165 feet (50 meters), Herkenhoff reports.

Before driving, the rover’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument and its Mastcam were slated to observe bedrock targets “Bloedkoppie,” “Blaubeker” and “Blaubock,” and Mastcam would acquire mosaics of ridges and outcrops of the Stimson sandstone.

Curiosity’s Mastcam Left instrument took this image on Sol 1294, March 27, 2016.

Curiosity’s Mastcam Left instrument took this image on Sol 1294, March 27, 2016.

 

Look for dust devils

On tap during Sol 1297, the rover’s Mastcam is scheduled to measure the amount of dust in the atmosphere by imaging the Sun, and Navcam will search for dust devils.

Early on Sol 1298, the plan calls for the robot’s Left Mastcam to acquire another mosaic of the Stimson sandstone on the Naukluft Plateau, Herkenhoff explains.

Curiosity's Traverse Map Through Sol 1292. This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 1292 Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (March 25, 2016). Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (roughly 0.62 mile). From Sol 1290 to Sol 1292, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 16.61 feet (5.06 meters). The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Curiosity’s Traverse Map Through Sol 1292.
This map shows the route driven by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity through the 1292 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (March 25, 2016).
Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (roughly 0.62 mile). From Sol 1290 to Sol 1292, Curiosity had driven a straight line distance of about 16.61 feet (5.06 meters).
The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) in NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

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