[meteorite-list] NASA Curiosity Rover Begins Eastbound Trek on Martian Surface

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:21:48 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201208300321.q7U3LmRN003686_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Aug. 29, 2012

Dwayne Brown / Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-0918
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / stephen.e.cole at nasa.gov

Guy Webster / D.C. Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-5011
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov / agle at jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-301

NASA CURIOSITY ROVER BEGINS EASTBOUND TREK ON MARTIAN SURFACE

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has set off from its
landing vicinity on a trek to a science destination about a
quarter-mile (400 meters) away, where it may begin using its drill.

The rover drove eastward about 52 feet (16 meters) on Tuesday, its
22nd Martian day after landing. This third drive was longer than
Curiosity's first two drives combined. The previous drives tested the
mobility system and positioned the rover to examine an area scoured
by exhaust from one of the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft engines
that placed the rover on the ground.

"This drive really begins our journey toward the first major driving
destination, Glenelg, and it's nice to see some Martian soil on our
wheels," said mission manager Arthur Amador of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The drive went beautifully,
just as our rover planners designed it."

Glenelg is a location where three types of terrain intersect.
Curiosity's science team chose it as a likely place to find a first
rock target for drilling and analysis.

"We are on our way, though Glenelg is still many weeks away," said
Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California
Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. "We plan to stop for
just a day at the location we just reached, but in the next week or
so we will make a longer stop."

During the longer stop at a site still to be determined, Curiosity
will test its robotic arm and the contact instruments at the end of
the arm. At the location reached Tuesday, Curiosity's Mast Camera
(Mastcam) will collect a set of images toward the mission's ultimate
driving destination, the lower slope of nearby Mount Sharp. A mosaic
of images from the current location will be used along with the
Mastcam images of the mountain taken at the spot where Curiosity
touched down, Bradbury Landing. This stereo pair taken about 33 feet
(10 meters) apart will provide three-dimensional information about
distant features and possible driving routes.

Curiosity is three weeks into a two-year prime mission on Mars. It
will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected study
area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for
microbial life. JPL, a division of Caltech, manages the mission for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

More information about Curiosity is online at:

http://www.nasa.gov/msl

and

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl

You can follow the mission on Facebook and on Twitter at:

http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity

and

http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity
        
-end-
Received on Wed 29 Aug 2012 11:21:48 PM PDT