MISSION UPDATES | May 1, 2013

Update On Curiosity From USGS Scientist Ken Herkenhoff: Planning Resumes

Written by Ken Herkenhoff, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center

Both Mars rovers survived conjunction, when they could not be reliably commanded for most of April. Opportunity had some computer issues, but is now back under sequence control and a short drive was planned today. MSL (Curiosity) is healthy and the first post-conjunction tactical planning is today. Before resuming full science operations, a new version of flight software is being loaded onto MSL. It should take the rest of this week to confirm that the software is properly installed.