[meteorite-list] Curiosity Update: Approach to Ripple

[Ron Baalke]

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1367

Approach to Ripple
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 3, 2012

On Sol 56 (Oct. 2, 2012), Curiosity drove about 20 feet (6 meters)
westward to reach a ripple of sand and dust deposited by the wind at a
soil patch called "Rocknest." This site is a potential target for the
rover's first use of its scoop, which the team will be evaluating over
the next few days.

Activities on Sol 56 also included monitoring the environment around
Curiosity with the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), the Dynamic
Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument, and the Rover Environmental
Monitoring Station (REMS). A raw image from Curiosity's front Hazard
Avoidance Camera (Hazcam) after the Sol 56 drive, showing a ripple at
Rocknest, is at http://1.usa.gov/PstZsE .

Sol 56, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 8:26 p.m.
Oct. 2, PDT (11:26 p.m. EDT).