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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Right Navigation Camera on June 28, 2025 — Sol 4583, or Martian day 4,583 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 03:20:22 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington University in St. Louis
Earth planning date: Monday, June 30, 2025
Our weekend drive placed Curiosity exactly where we had hoped: on lighter-toned, resistant bedrock we have been eyeing for close study. Curiosity’s workspace tosol did not contain any targets suitable for DRT. After a detailed discussion by the team, weighing science not only in tosol’s plan but the holiday-shifted sols ahead, the decision was made to perform contact science at the current workspace and then drive in the second sol of the plan.
Normally, drives in the second sol of a two-sol plan are uncommon, as we require information on the ground to assess in advance of the next sol’s planning. At present however, the current “Mars time” is quite favorable, enabling Curiosity’s team to operate within “nominal sols” and receive the necessary data in time for Wednesday’s one-sol plan. DAN kicked off the first sol of the plan with a passive measurement, complemented by another in the afternoon and two more on the second sol. Arm activities focused on placing MAHLI and APXS on “La Paz” and “Playa Agua de Luna,” two lighter-toned, laminated rocks.
The rest of the first sol was rounded out with ChemCam LIBS analyses on “La Joya” followed by further LIBS analyses on “La Vega” on the second sol, once Curiosity’s arm was out of the way of the laser. ChemCam and Mastcam additionally imaged “Mishe Mokwa” prior to the nearly straight drive of about 20 meters (about 66 feet). Environmental monitoring activities, imaging of the CheMin inlet cover, and a SAM EBT activity rounded out Curiosity’s efforts on the second sol.
For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates
Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
Explore This Section Perseverance Home Mission Overview Rover Components Mars Rock Samples Where is Perseverance? Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission Updates Science Overview Objectives Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Perseverance Raw Images Images Videos Audio More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read
An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
A behind-the-scenes look at the annual Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting
Members of the Mars 2020 Science Team examine post-impact sediments within the Gardnos impact structure, northwest of Oslo, Norway, as part of the June 2025 Science Team Meeting. NASA/Katie Stack Morgan Written by Katie Stack Morgan, Mars 2020 Acting Project Scientist
The Mars 2020 Science Team gathered for a week in June to discuss recent science results, synthesize earlier mission observations, and discuss future plans for continued exploration of Jezero’s crater rim. It was also an opportunity to celebrate what makes this mission so special: one of the most capable and sophisticated science missions ever sent to Mars, an experienced and expert Science Team, and the rover’s many science accomplishments this past year.
We kicked off the meeting, which was hosted by our colleagues on the RIMFAX team at the University of Oslo, with a focus on our most recent discoveries on the Jezero crater rim. A highlight was the team’s in-depth discussion of spherules observed at Witch Hazel Hill, features which likely provide us the best chance of determining the origin of the crater rim rock sequence.
On the second day, we heard status updates from each of the science instrument teams. We then transitioned to a session devoted to “traverse-scale” syntheses. After 4.5 years of Perseverance on Mars and more than 37 kilometers of driving (more than 23 miles), we’re now able to analyze and integrate science datasets across the entire surface mission, looking for trends through space and time within the Jezero rock record. Our team also held a poster session, which was a great opportunity for in-person and informal scientific discussion.
The team’s modern atmospheric and environmental investigations were front and center on Day 3. We then rewound the clock, hearing new and updated analyses of data acquired during Perseverance’s earlier campaigns in Jezero’s Margin unit, crater floor, and western fan. The last day of the meeting was focused entirely on future plans for the Perseverance rover, including a discussion of our exploration and sampling strategy during the Crater Rim Campaign. We also looked further afield, considering where the rover might explore over the next few years.
Following the meeting, the Science Team took a one-day field trip to visit Gardnos crater, a heavily eroded impact crater with excellent examples of impact melt breccia and post-impact sediment fill. The team’s visit to Gardnos offered a unique opportunity to see and study impact-generated rock units like those expected on the Jezero crater rim and to discuss the challenges we have recognizing similar units with the rover on Mars. Recapping our Perseverance team meetings has been one of my favorite yearly traditions (see summaries from our 2022, 2023, and 2024 meetings) and I look forward to reporting back a year from now. As the Perseverance team tackles challenges in the year to come, we can seek inspiration from one of Norway’s greatest polar explorers, Fridtjof Nansen, who said while delivering his Nobel lecture, “The difficult is that which can be done at once; the impossible is that which takes a little longer.”
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4584 – 4585: Just a Small Bump
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on June 27, 2025 — Sol 4582, or Martian day 4,582 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 05:28:57 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Friday, June 27, 2025
We weren’t able to unstow Curiosity’s robotic arm on Wednesday because of some potentially unstable rocks under Curiosity’s wheels, but we liked the rocks at Wednesday’s location enough that we decided to spend a sol repositioning the rover so that we’d have another chance today to analyze them. The small adjustment of the rover’s position, or “bump,” as we like to call it during tactical planning, was successful, and we found ourselves in a nice stable pose this morning which allowed us to use our highly capable robotic arm to observe the rocks in front of us.
We will be collecting APXS and MAHLI observations of two targets today. The first, “Santa Elena,” is the bumpy rock that caught our eye on Wednesday. The second, informally named “Estancia Allkamari,” is a patch of nearby sand. We’ll analyze this target to understand if and how the sand composition has changed as we’ve driven across Mount Sharp, and to better help us understand how sand may be contributing to future compositional measurements that cover mixtures of sand and rock. MAHLI and ChemCam will team up to observe a third target named “Ticatica,” which is another bumpy rock nearby that looks like it might have a dark patch on its side.
This is the final weekend of this Martian year when temperature and relative humidity in Gale crater hit the sweet spot where conditions are right for frost to form in the pre-dawn hours. We’re taking this last opportunity to see if we can catch any evidence of frost with the ChemCam laser, shooting a sandy (and hopefully cold) portion of the ground in the pre-dawn hours on a target named “Rio Huasco.” Other activities in the plan include atmospheric monitoring, Mastcam mosaics, including a 20 x 3 mosaic of the large boxwork structures in the distance, and a short drive to the southwest to check out a rocky raised ridge.
For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates
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Last Updated Jul 01, 2025 Related Terms
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By NASA
The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Sigrid Reinsch, Lori Munar, Kevin Sims, and Matthew Fladeland. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative disposition needed to explore this world and beyond.
Space Biosciences Star: Sigrid Reinsch
As Director of the SHINE (Space Health Impacts for the NASA Experience) program and Project Scientist for NBISC (NASA Biological Institutional Scientific Collection), Sigrid Reinsch is a high-performing scientist and outstanding mentor in the Space Biosciences Research Branch. Her dedication to student training and her efforts to streamline processes have significantly improved the experience of welcoming summer interns at NASA Ames.
Space Science and Astrobiology Star: Lori Munar
Lori Munar serves as the assistant Branch Chief of the Exobiology Branch. In the past few months, she has gone above and beyond to organize a facility and laboratory surplus event that involved multiple divisions over multiple days. The event resulted in considerable savings across the groups involved and improved the safety of N239 staff and the appearance of offices and labs.
Space Science and Astrobiology Star: Kevin Sims
Kevin Sims is a NASA Technical Project Manager serving the Astrophysics Branch as a member of the Flight Systems Implementation Branch in the Space Biosciences Division. Kevin is recognized for outstanding project management for exoplanet imaging instrumentation development in support of the Habitable Worlds Observatory. Kevin has streamlined, organized, and improved the efficiency of the Ames Photonics Testbed being developed as part the AstroPIC Early Career Initiative project.
Earth Science Star: Matthew Fladeland
Matthew Fladeland is a research scientist in the Earth Science Division managing NASA SMD’s Program Office for the Airborne Science Program, located at Ames. He is recognized for exemplary leadership and teamwork leading to new reimbursable agreements with the Department of Defense, for accelerating science technology solutions through the SBIR program, and for advancing partnerships with the US Forest Service on wildland ecology and fire science.
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By NASA
Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4580-4581: Something in the Air…
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on June 23, 2025 — Sol 4578, or Martian day 4,578 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 02:38:50 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Scott VanBommel, Planetary Scientist at Washington University in St. Louis
Earth planning date: Monday, June 23, 2025
Curiosity was back at work on Monday, with a full slate of activities planned. While summer has officially arrived for much of Curiosity’s team back on Earth, Mars’ eldest active rover is recently through the depths of southern Mars winter and trending toward warmer temperatures itself. Warmer temperatures mean less component heating is required and therefore more power is freed up for science and driving. However, the current cooler temperatures do present an opportunity to acquire quality short-duration APXS measurements first thing in the morning, which is what Curiosity elected to do once again.
Curiosity’s plan commenced by brushing a rock target with potential cross-cutting veins, “Hornitos,” and subsequently analyzing it with APXS. A sequence of Mastcam images followed on targets such as “Volcán Peña Blanca,” “La Pacana,” “Iglesia de Jarinilla de Umatia,” and “Ayparavi.” ChemCam, returning to action after a brief and understood hiatus, rounded out the morning’s chemical analysis activities with a 5-point analysis of Ayparavi. After some images of the brush, and a handful of MAHLI snaps of Hornitos, Curiosity was on its way with a planned drive of about 37 meters (about 121 feet).Curiosity’s night would not be spent entirely dreaming of whatever rovers dream, but rather conducting a lengthy APXS analysis of the atmosphere. These analyses enable Curiosity’s team to assess the abundance of argon in the atmosphere — from a volume about the size of a pop can (or soda can, depending on your unit of preference) — which can be used to trace global circulation patterns and better understand modern Mars. Recently, Curiosity has been increasing the frequency of these measurements and pairing them with ChemCam “Passive Sky” observations. These ChemCam activities do not utilize the instrument’s laser, but instead use its other components to characterize the air above the rover. By combining APXS and ChemCam observations of the atmosphere, Curiosity’s team is able to better assess daily and seasonal trends in gases around Gale crater. A ChemCam “Passive Sky” was the primary observation in the second sol of the plan, with Curiosity spending much of the remaining time recharging and eagerly awaiting commands from Wednesday’s team.
For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates
Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments
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Last Updated Jun 26, 2025 Related Terms
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