TORONTO – NASA’s Curiosity rover finished a two-day autonomous drive on Monday, putting it in a good position to choose its next scientific target.
Curiosity chose its route using onboard cameras which provide it with stereographic images.
Curiosity now sits about 80 metres from an outcrop named Cooperstown, which is about two-thirds of the way to its ultimate destination, Mount Sharp.
“What interests us about this site is an intriguing outcrop of layered material visible in the orbital images,” said Kevin Lewis of Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., a participating scientist for the mission who has been a leader in planning the Cooperstown activities. “We want to see how the local layered outcrop at Cooperstown may help us relate the geology of Yellowknife Bay to the geology of Mount Sharp.”
Scientists are using images taken from the rover’s position to determine which areas they should investigate with arm-mounted instruments which will analyze the dirt.
Curiosity’s primary mission is to determine whether or not Mars could have supported life.
In September, NASA researchers found that Mars dirt contains water, good news for human missions to the red planet.
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