NASA Mars Curiosity Rover: More Meters in Curiosity’s Rearview Mirror

September 17, 2012

Sol 39 through 41 (Sept. 14 – 17) were driving days for the Curiosity rover. On Sol 39, Curiosity logged 72 feet (22 meters) driven. On Sol 40, the rover drove another 121 feet (37 meters).On Sol 41, Curiosity logged 89 feet (27 meters), across the surface of Gale Crater. During this sol, for the first time, the DAN instrument was incorporated into the rover’s drive sequence. After driving 33 feet (10 meters), the rover would stop and the DAN instrument would activate for two minutes. Another 10 meters driven, another DAN measurement. Total distance racked up since landing on Aug. 5 is 745 feet (227 meters).

An image of the surface of Gale Crater, taken on Sol 41 by the rover’s left navigation camera, is available at: http://1.usa.gov/PLqFge .

Curiosity continues to be in good health. Sol 41, in Mars local mean solar time at Gale Crater, ended at 10:33 a.m. Sept. 17, PDT.