Astrogeology Science Center

The USGS Astrogeology family is grieving the loss of Carolyn Shoemaker, who died on August 13 at the age of 92. Shoemaker was a world-renowned astronomer who discovered or co-discovered 377 asteroids/numbered minor planets and 32 comets, including the co-discovery of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 which broke apart and crashed into Jupiter in 1994.

Great news! All presentations from the 2021 Planetary Data Workshop and Planetary Science Informatics & Data Analytics meeting are now available to the public. To learn more about working with planetary data - such as processing pipelines, tools, artificial intelligence, software management, cloud computing, and even increasing inclusivity in the workplace, you can access the workshop...

The Sol 3216 drive went well, placing the rover in an area of bright bedrock partly covered by dark sand.

When visitors come to the Astrogeology Science Center, Grover the Geologic Rover is often the star attraction. Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRVs) played an important role in the last three Apollo missions, which allowed astronauts to cover greater distances, travel further from the Lunar Module, carry more gear and instruments, and retrieve more rock samples. 

Curiosity is making good progress along the path to our next intended drill location, and making a lot of great observations along the way.

Do you know that Grand Falls is not only a tourist attraction, but two kilometers away are the Grand Falls Dunes?  USGS scientists are studying the Grand Falls Dunes not only to benefit the people who live on the land, but also to gain insight to how dunes processes work on other planets.

The Sol 3185 drive went well!

The data needed to confirm that it was safe to drop some of the latest drill sample into CheMin were received late in the planning process on Wednesday, so no changes to the Sol 3171-3172 plan were needed. 

On Sol 3165 Curiosity carried out a short bump to better position the rover for drilling. The bump went well and we were excited to dive straight into planning today.

The sol 3156 drive went well, leaving the rover on bedrock with lots of dark nodules. 

Curiosity had another nice ~51 m drive over the weekend, making good progress towards the next intended drill location and taking in the view along the way.  It’s a good reminder to check the rearview mirror (or the view over the back right side of the rover, as seen in the above Navcam image) to remind ourselves just how far we’ve come.