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Curiosity's rambling tracks visible from Mars orbit

Curiosity鈥檚 rambling tracks visible from Mars orbit
Tracks from the Curiosity rover were imaged by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 2, 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Look closely and see where the Curiosity rover has been roving about inside Gale Crater on Mars, from "Bradbury Landing" to its current location in "Yellowknife Bay." This shot was taken by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on January 2, 2013.

"This image shows the entire distance traveled from the landing site (dark smudge at left) to its location as of 2 January 2013 (the rover is bright feature at right)," wrote principal investigator Alfred McEwen on the HiRISE website. "The tracks are not seen where the rover has recently driven over the lighter-toned surface, which may be more indurated [hardened] than the darker soil."

You can compare this image to one taken on September 8, 2012 to see how much the rover has driven in Gale Crater:

Curiosity鈥檚 rambling tracks visible from Mars orbit
Curiosity rover tracks seen from orbit by HiRISE on September 8, 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

And here's a map of Curiosity's travels that NASA released yesterday:

Curiosity鈥檚 rambling tracks visible from Mars orbit

Mission scientists said at a briefing yesterday (January 15, 2013) that between Sol (Martian day) 120 and Sol 121 of the mission鈥攚hich equates to Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, 2012鈥擟uriosity crossed over a terrain boundary into lighter-toned rocks that correspond to high thermal inertia values observed by 's orbiter. The green dashed line marks the boundary between the terrain types.

The inset graphs the range in ground temperature recorded each day by the Rover Station (REMS) on Curiosity. Note that the arrival onto the lighter-toned terrain corresponds with an abrupt shift in the range of daily ground temperatures to a consistently smaller spread in values. This independently signals the same transition seen from orbit, and marks the arrival at well-exposed, stratified bedrock.

Sol 124 (Dec. 11, 2012) marked the arrival into an area called "," where sulfate-filled veins and concretions were discovered, along with much finer-grained sediments providing evidence of past water interacting with the surface.

Here's the weather report for Sol 158 (January 15, 2013):

Curiosity鈥檚 rambling tracks visible from Mars orbit
Daily Weather Report. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

A video showing the new HiRISE image of Curiosity's tracks:

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Curiosity rover explores 'Yellowknife Bay'

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