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September 9th, 2015
Curiosity Navcam Right B image taken on Sol 1099 September 9, 2015.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has made some impressive images of “Bridger Basin” and has been busy acquiring a large stereo mosaic of the far wall of that Basin.
The rover’s movement on Mars was halted on Sol 1098 after reaching some 43 feet (13 meters) of a planned trek of over 80 feet (25 meters), reports Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The start-stop drive occurred because Curiosity could not confirm that the path ahead was safe.
Recent glitch
One recent glitch involves the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
The last 5 relays of data through MRO have returned “significantly less data” than expected. If this problem continues, Herkenhoff notes, skimpy amounts of data will be available to plan another rover drive on Sol 1100.
Curiosity Mars rover is imaging Bridger Basin.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Fortunately, the MRO team understands the problem and knows how to correct it,” Herkenhoff points out, so there was a good chance that all the data needed would become available for rover planning purposes today.
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, on September 7, 2015, Sol 1097.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Dates of future planned rover activities are always subject to change due to a variety of factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays and rover status.
Posted in Space News
