Captured by Curiosity's MAHLI camera on September 29, 2024 (Sol 4318)
For scale the Lincoln Penny has a diameter of 0.75 inches (19.05 mm)
Fun fact: They used a 1909 Lincoln VDB penny for the calibration target as the rover was supposed to launch during 2009, 100 years after the coin was minted and 200 years after the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Technical issues delayed the launch, but the penny was already fitted to the calibration target.
Can anyone spot the Martian in the image? :)
they’re not fun.
100% agreed... Ingenuity should still be gathering data and the occasional images down in Neretva Vallis. Weather permitting it should do that for many years to come. A severe dust storm could dramatically reduce the output from its small solar array to a point where its heaters would not have sufficient power to prevent damage to its batteries and sensitive electronics.
Thats pretty rad.
It is a very special view, but if not for the regional dust storm we are experiencing, we'd have a clear view of the crater floor where we landed and some of the areas we visited since landing. We'd even be able to see the Mars helicopter with the MastCam-Z cameras, granted it would only be a a few pixels across as it's close to 2 kilometers away (1.23 miles) still sat atop a sandy ripple in Neretva Vallis :) I hope the dust storm subsides before we drive over the crater rim, as the views will be memorable.
Data provided by JPL shortly after each drive, all I do is gather the data and present it in this table
Post-drive 4-tile NavCam mosaic looking Northeast after the drive.
The rover has returned to its notional path, having driven away from 'Dox Castle'. The terrain on the path is similar to what we see in this image, so we may encounter a degree of wheel slip and deeper tracks. That will usually result in shorter drives.
I'll post the map and drive data in separate posts
Beautifully processed by James Sorenson. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/James Sorenson
edit: fixed typo
I'd love to be a fly on the wall at the meetings between the science teams on which rocks to investigate. There must be disagreements between the scientists :) I guess we would have only travelled a few hundred meters if they stopped at every rock / target that looked interesting to one of the team, instead of the 32.51 km (20.20 miles) we have traversed. As for the colour, I like to look at the colour of the tailings when they drill holes, there are many gray rocks, but quite a few reddish ones as well. This illustrates it well for me (all 42 sample holes) https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA26403.jpg
Waiting for the official distance / elevation change etc. But it looks like a good drive :)
There was another drive on 1278, oddly reported as 1289 on the mission map. Whichever is correct the distance was 178 meters with a climb of 9 meters
Wonder if it’s something they will consider changing in the designs of future rovers. They already changed the design for the Perseverance rover, it has more grousers and a different pattern for those grousers. those redesigned wheels have been on Mars for 1279 sols (so far) and have zero damage.
Here's a short video clip that goes over the changes https://youtu.be/ov_TXfWBf-4?t=68
why isn’t the wheel solid?
Several years ago they did an engineering study that basically stated that when a specific number of cleats broke it had used up a percentage of its life. We're past that stage now. They have since developed a scenario that will allow them to rip one half of the damaged wheel off, and still drive on the remaining half.... All of the wheels are motorized, losing one wheel won't stop the rover from traversing to it's science waypoints
It's had a tough journey, but it's still trucking
Perseverance rover has reached new heights as it ascends the rim of Jezero crater, currently 389 meters (1277 ft) in elevation higher than the original landing site )! The rover is located at its first crater rim campaign science stop at a location called 'Dox Castle', a region of interest for its potential to host ancient Mars bedrock in the exposed rocks on the rim. Impact craters like Jezero may be the key to piecing together the early geologic history of Mars, as they provide a window into the history of the ancient crust by excavating and depositing deep crustal materials above the surface. Crater rims act as keepers of ancient Martian history, uplifting and exposing the stratigraphy of these impacted materials. Additionally, extreme heat from the impact can encourage the circulation of fluids through fractures similar to hydrothermal vents, which have implications for early habitability and may be preserved in the exposed rim bedrock. With the Perseverance rover we have the potential to explore some of the oldest exposed rocks on the planet.
This panoramic scene is created by processing images and data from the orbiting assets of NASA and ESA, it was processed by Freie Universität Berlin. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/University of Arizona/ESA/DLR/FU-BERLIN
It was, the climb on 1274 currently holds second place on the leader board, the highest elevation climb in a single drive is currently 26.4 meters (sol 1268), but that was over a marginally longer traverse, so probably a very similar average angle. I agree that the team have appeared to pause the drives whenever they spot an enticing target of opportunity :)
Pity we don't get frequent and detailed mission updates (Like we get on MSL). The PDS mission manager reports are amazing, but they are only made public at least 6 months after the 'event'
Pulled away from the workspace to provide better access to the fractured bedrock target with the rover's robotic arm
15 frame mosaic of deBayered L-MastCam images
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/fredk
I'd like to hope so. One could assume that it would be a prerequisite to any crewed missions, so fingers crossed for a high-speed / volume DSN in my lifetime ☺️
That's the one 🤣🤣🤣
Looking at the camera elevation and the 110mm zoom, I'd have to assume it was a very small ~~skull~~ rock on Mars ;)
The Martian hand is considered tame compared with the NSFW traverse inside Neretva Vallis by Perseverance rover 😂
Those S-VDB's are a tad pricey 😂 😂 😂
I'd hate to think what a numismatist with deep pockets would pay for that VDB, if it was ever brought home, no matter what its PCGS grade ... 🤯