Curiosity Climbs Back Toward Mount Sharp

After a detour to study an erosional supersurface, NASA's rover resumes its ascent—laser, camera, and dust-devil surveys in tow.

By The space-quantum Desk

Curiosity is back on track. [1]

Monday's plan for Sols 4982 to 4985 was dense with contact science. ChemCam fired LIBS spectroscopy at targets "Lagunas Bravas" and "Parququcha." [1]

Not everything went to plan. MAHLI and APXS still completed contact science on targets "Mamorecillo" and "Aguas Claras," while ChemCam's laser probed a dark-toned resistant layer dubbed "Yura Kasa." [1]

Mars's late season kept the team busy beyond geology. Mastcam ran dust-imaging observations to measure atmospheric optical depth, or "tau," and Navcam conducted multiple large dust-devil surveys, zenith observation, in-crater line-of-sight observations, and suprahorizon cloud movies. As Gale Crater transitions into fall, temperatures and the likelihood of dust storms begins to drop—but Curiosity is still on the lookout for the last gasp of late-season local and regional dust storms. [1]

There is something quietly relentless about a machine that counts its days in the thousands yet still pauses to photograph the underside of a rock. Science, at its most patient, looks a lot like this.

Curiosity will resume contact science, remote sensing, and driving when the team returns Monday—moving steadily uphill through a planet's deep past. [1]