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

[Ron Baalke]

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 
	
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