Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Upcoming Science at Gale Crater

 
  Right now the engineering team is carefully checking out Curiosity to ensure that she is working properly. The onboard systems need to be activated one by one and put through their paces. The task may take several weeks to accomplish. Then the rover will be turned over to the science team and they will start working on the science objectives for the mission. Navigation and Mission Design Manager, Michael Watkins, touched on this at today's press conference.
 
  One topic that was briefly mentioned is the alluvial fan on the western slope of Mt Sharp. There are a number of channels to the south of Curiosity's present position that need to be investigated. The Google Mars positions of two of these are -4.84°N, 137.425°E and -5.12°N, 137.24°E. They can be seen from Curiosity's current position using "Street View" in Google Mars.
 
 

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