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Sols 2742-2743: Driving Again

Nasa's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Right Navigation Camera on Sol 2738, at drive 1222, site number 79

This image was taken by Right Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 2738.

NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Curiosity is ready to drive again! The main activity in today’s two sol plan will be a ~65-meter drive to the north/north east that skirts nearby “Tower butte.” The drive will happen in the early afternoon of the first sol of the plan. Before the drive, we will collect a little more remote sensing data of the area around us, including ChemCam observations of targets named “Salen,” “Crossbill,” and “Burg,” as well as an RMI mosaic of an area named “Uphall.” Mastcam will image the ChemCam targets and also take pictures of the sun and crater rim, which will give the team information about current atmospheric conditions. All of the science on the second sol of the plan happens after the drive, so we will take untargeted observations that include a clast survey, ChemCam autonomously targeted observation using the AEGIS software, and Navcam images to further characterize the atmosphere and also search for dust devils.

It feels great to be hitting the Martian road once again, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s around the bend.

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Planetary Geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory