MARS Rover Curiosity (MSL) Heading for Mount Sharp

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The lower slopes of Mount Sharp appear at the top of this image taken by the right Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity at the end of a drive of about 135 feet (41 meters) during the 329th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (July 9, 2013). 

 That was the third drive by Curiosity since finishing observations at the mission's final science target in the "Glenelg" area east of the rover's landing site.

The planned entry point to the lower layers of Mount Sharp, the mission's next major destination, lies about 5 miles (8 kilometers) to the southwest.

The turret of tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm is in the foreground, with the rover's rock-sampling drill in the lower left corner of the image. 

NASA Mars Curiosity Rover Explores 'Yellowknife Bay'

The NASA Mars rover Curiosity used its left Navigation Camera (NavCam) to record this view of the step down into a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay." 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The NASA Mars rover Curiosity this week is driving within a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay," providing information to help researchers choose a rock to drill.

Using Curiosity's percussive drill to collect a sample from the interior of a rock, a feat never before attempted on Mars, is the mission's priority for early 2013.

After the powdered-rock sample is sieved and portioned by a sample-processing mechanism on the rover's arm, it will be analyzed by instruments inside Curiosity.

Yellowknife Bay is within a different type of terrain from what the rover has traversed since landing inside Mars' Gale Crater on Aug. 5, PDT (Aug. 6, UTC).

The terrain Curiosity has entered is one of three types that intersect at a location dubbed "Glenelg," chosen as an interim destination about two weeks after the landing.

MSL's percussive drill

Curiosity reached the lip of a 2-foot (half-meter) descent into Yellowknife Bay with a 46-foot (14-meter) drive on Dec. 11.

The next day, a drive of about 86 feet (26.1 meters) brought the rover well inside the basin.

Mast Camera (Mastcam)

The team has been employing the Mast Camera (Mastcam) and the laser-wielding Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) for remote-sensing studies of rocks along the way.

On Dec. 14, Curiosity drove about 108 feet (32.8 meters) to reach rock targets of interest called "Costello" and "Flaherty."

Researchers used the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) at the end of the rover's arm to examine the targets.

Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)

After finishing those studies, the rover drove again on Dec. 17, traveling about 18 feet (5.6 meters) farther into Yellowknife Bay.

That brings the mission's total driving distance to 0.42 mile (677 meters) since Curiosity's landing.

One additional drive is planned this week before the rover team gets a holiday break.

Curiosity will continue studying the Martian environment from its holiday location at the end point of that drive within Yellowknife Bay.

The mission's plans for most of 2013 center on driving toward the primary science destination, a 3-mile-high (5-kilometer) layered mound called Mount Sharp.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project (MSL) is using Curiosity during a two-year prime mission to assess whether areas inside Gale Crater ever offered a habitable environment for microbes.

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity: Enroute to first destination

This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 43rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Sept. 19, 2012). 

Curiosity now has driven six days in a row.

Daily distances range from 72 feet to 121 feet (22 meters to 37 meters).

"This robot was built to rove, and the team is really getting a good rhythm of driving day after day when that's the priority," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Richard Cook of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

The team plans to choose a rock in the Glenelg area for the rover's first use of its capability to analyze powder drilled from interiors of rocks.

Three types of terrain intersect in the Glenelg area—one lighter-toned and another more cratered than the terrain Curiosity currently is crossing.

The light-toned area is of special interest because it retains daytime heat long into the night, suggesting an unusual composition.

"As we're getting closer to the light-toned area, we see thin, dark bands of unknown origin," said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

"The smaller-scale diversity is becoming more evident as we get closer, providing more potential targets for investigation."

Researchers are using Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) to find potential targets on the ground. Recent new images from the rover's camera reveal dark streaks on rocks in the Glenelg area that have increased researchers' interest in the area.

In addition to taking ground images, the camera also has been busy looking upward.

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity: Sniffs, Drives and Tests it's Robotic Arm

The Mars Science Laboratory took in samples of the Martian atmosphere, started driving towards its first target site (Glenelg) and will park to test all the functions of its arm carrying scientific remote sensing intruments.

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity: Making tracks and Exercising it's robotic arm

NASA's Curiosity rover is having a few days break from travelling to give its arm a work out.

The rover, which has so far driven 358 feet (109 metres) from its landing site, is making its way across Gale Crater.

Having covered about one fourth of the distance to Glenelg, which is 400 metres for the rover's landing site, Curiosity paused on flat ground and extended its 7 foot (2.1 metre) arm which operates a number of Curiosity's tools.

Michael Watkins, the mission manager, explained: "We knew at some point we were going to need to stop and take a week or so for these characterisation activities. For these checkouts, we need to turn to a particular angle in relation to the sun and on flat ground. We could see before the latest drive that this looked like a perfect spot to start these activities."

We're still learning how to use the rover. It's such a complex machine -- the learning curve is steep
Joy Crisp, JPL

"These activities are important to get a better understanding for how the arm functions after the long cruise to Mars and in the different temperature and gravity of Mars, compared to earlier testing on Earth," said Daniel Limonadi.