#Solarocks

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

4 days ago

RE: https://social.beachcom.org/@nasa/116209184904255582

What has Curiosity been up to in the previous week inside Gale Crater on the planet Mars. Read the latest blog written by William Farrand, a Senior Research Scientist at the Space Science Institute.

#Curiosity #MSL #MarsRover #NASA […]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

1 week ago

A composite image acquired by one of the mast-mounted cameras on Perseverance Rover that is exploring the planet Mars. The image looks slightly down onto the front of the Mars rover and its workspace just in front of the rover. The workspace contains a craggy and dark grey rocky outcrop. The exposed rock surfaces contain several fractures, with its near horizontal surfaces being peppered by a fine deposit of ocher coloured dust. Beyond the workspace are several other dark rocky outcrops that are surrounded by a mix of regolith (small crushed rock fragments, sand and pebbles). The view stretches to the horizon and the rolling hills that are northeast of the rover's current location, just outside Jezero crater. On the rover's dusty deck we can observe the stowed robotic arm. At the end of the arm is a turret that contains a large percussion drill, a small tank of compressed gas, as well as a number of science instruments and cameras. The rover arrived at this location after a short drive on March 5, 2026 (mission Sol 1792) it has been exploring this region for just over 5 earth years.

Meanwhile on Mars:
Perseverance rover completed a 15 minute drive to site 87.0 on March 5, 2026 (Sol 1792). This post-drive roughly processed image was assembled / cropped from 6 post-drive NavCam tiles. I'll add the drive details and updated location map in […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

3 months ago

One can never have enough Selfies from Mars! This one from Perseverance Rover was acquired on December 12, 2025 (Sol 1711) using the SHERLOC WATSON camera. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars #Selfie #JPL #SHERLOC #WATSON

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

3 months ago

Panoramic view of a Mars landscape, dominated by a reddish-brown, rocky terrain. Large, dark-colored boulders are scattered across the foreground, amidst smaller rocks and fine-grained regolith. The background features a flatter, more distant landscape of similar color, suggesting a wide expanse of the Martian surface outside Jezero Crater.

Checking out some interesting rocks with Perseverance's MastCam-Z camera during the morning of mission Sol 1703 (December 4, 2025). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars #mastcam-z #rocks #JPL

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

3 months ago

A wide view of the Martian landscape captured by one of the rover's cameras, featuring the brownish-yellow dust covered terrain, with a small distant hill topped with darker boulders in an otherwise vast, near barren landscape.

Drive: Ending on Mars Solar Day, UTC Earth Date, Sol 1686, November 17, 2025 Drive: Duration in Minutes 220.0 Minutes, 3ʰ 39ᵐ 57ˢ Distance: Drive path: (meters / feet) 85.34 m, 936.2 ft Distance: Drive (point-to-point) meters / feet 277.00 m, 908.8 ft Distance: To the Landing site (point-to-point) 10.89 km, 6.8 miles Distance: To the Helicopter (point-to-point) 5.09 km, 3.2 miles Distance: Total traverse 38.15 km, 23.7 miles Distance: Longest drive distance 473.92 m, 1554.9 ft Sols / Days since landing 1,686 Mars Days, 1,732 Earth Days Drive: Number of drives since landing 481 Elevation: Mars Geoid (beginning of drive) -1909.75 m, -6265.6 ft Elevation: Mars Geoid (end of drive) -1901.03 m, -6237.0 ft Elevation: Change during drive ▲ 8.71 m, ▲ 28.6 ft Elevation: Change since landing ▲ 668.88 m, ▲ 2194.5 ft Elevation: Lowest below landing ▼ -15.96 m, ▼ -52.4 ft Elevation: Highest above landing ▲ 783.91 m, ▲ 2571.9 ft Location: RMC Index (To – From) 81_0, 80_2956 Location: Landing - Easting / Northing E: 4354494.086, N: 1093299.695 Location: Beginning-of-drive Easting/Northing E: 4343742.816, N: 1093138.352 Location: End-of-drive - Easting / Northing E: 4343607.604, N: 1092896.600 Location: End-of-drive - Latitude / Longitude 18.43782669, 77.25725413 Attitude: Roll (end-of-drive) 0.13° ↺, Attitude: Pitch (end-of-drive) 4.90° ↺ Attitude: Tilt (end-of-drive) Tilt: 4.90° Attitude: Yaw (degrees) Yaw: 180.39°, South Apologies as some text edited / clipped due to ALT text limit

Perseverance rover looks back after long drive to the southwest during November 17, 2025 (Sol 1686).
The traverse distance was 285m (936ft), with a climb of 8.7m (28ft), drive duration was 220 minutes. Attached is a roughly processed tiled NavCam and the drive […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

4 months ago

Perseverance Rover Encounters a Possible Meteorite.

https://science.nasa.gov/blog/a-stranger-in-our-midst/

Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars #Blog #Meteorite #iron #nickle #MastCam

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

4 months ago

Mars Guy: Episode 239.
Mars is notorious for having copious amounts of dust, so when the dust cover of the highest resolution camera on Perseverance could not be closed, it seemed doomed. Here’s what’s happened after 21 months uncovered.

https://youtu.be/awUHaXxG2m0

#Perseverance #MarsRover […]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

4 months ago

This mosaic was assembled from overlapping mast camera images acquired by Curiosity rover, it provides a close-up of eroded Martian rock formations, showcasing uneven, layered surfaces with reddish-brown tones and scattered fragments that have tumbled from the ridge.

Meanwhile on Mars:

A Bayer reconstructed Mast Camera Mosaic from Sol 4700 (October 26, 2025). It features a section of the rocky ridge that surrounds the shallow depression in the boxwork region on Mount Sharp, where Curiosity rover is presently stationed […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

4 months ago

Meanwhile on Mars: An uphill drive lasting ~67 minutes for Perseverance rover during mission Sol 1661 (October 22, 2025). The distance was ~44 meters due north, climbing ~9.2 meters, with an end-of-drive tilt of 18.7°.

Attached is a processed rear HazCam image […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

5 months ago

9 overlapping ChemCam RMI images acquired during sol 4687 assembled into a mosaic using MS-ICE. Curiosity rover acquired additional images, but they have yet to be downlinked from the rover in the correct format on the public server. Credits […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

5 months ago

JPL Workforce Update A message from JPL Director Dave Gallagher

😢

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/jpl-workforce--update/

#Perseverance #Curiosity #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #Science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

5 months ago

Rock Coatings as Evidence for Late Surface Alteration on the Floor of Jezero Crater, Mars

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JE009242

@65dBnoise
@sharponlooker

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

6 months ago

Then & Now on Mars:
Images acquired 13 years apart feature Curiosity rover's MAHLI camera with its lens cap fully closed. The first image was taken just 32 Sols after landing in 2012, the second image was taken a few days ago on Sol 4,656 (September 11, 2025 […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

6 months ago

Meanwhile on Mars:
Early Morning Imaging.
16-tile Left NavCam.
Sol 1622, 05:55 LMST.
Friday September 12, 2025.
Credits NASA/JPL-Caltech.

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

6 months ago

A rather special RMI telephoto mosaic (10 images from Curiosity rover) looking towards the not so distant Yardang Unit.

We've been driving towards that unit for many years, but this view is really nice. I'm assuming the lack of suspended dust in the atmosphere […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

6 months ago

Wheel tracks and what appears to be distant clouds seen in this composite image taken by Perseverance rover. The base images were acquired after a drive to the southeast of close to 202 meters during sol 1595 (August 15.2025). The image was assembled / cropped […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

Perseverance Rover at 'Falbreen':

The rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this 360-degree panorama of an area nicknamed "Falbreen" on May 26, 2025 (Sol 1516) Ninety-six separate images were stitched together to make the panorama.

Check out the 3 full […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

It's been a rough path at times, but she's still traversing.

Post-drive NavCam acquired August 3, 2025 (mission sol 4619).

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

#Curiosity #MSL #MarsRover #NASA #Science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

A new location for Curiosity rover, after its 26 meter drive during its mission Sol 4614 (July 30, 2025).
Attached is a post-drive workspace mosaic assembled from overlapping MastCam images, the data from the drive, and a screenshot of the traverse map (with […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image, looking out in the direction from where it came, with the rover's tracks visible through the dust and sand covering the ground. Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera on July 28, 2025 — Sol 4612, or Martian day 4,612 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 00:27:23 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Conor Hayes, Graduate Student at York University Earth planning date: Monday, July 28, 2025 Today was a pretty straightforward day of planning. Our drive over the weekend completed successfully, and we quickly confirmed that we are parked in a stable position. Thus, we were able to unstow the rover's arm to poke around in our new workspace, which features a large sand-filled fracture. Aside from all of the good geology work to be done, the view from our current location is quite spectacular. We're still in the time of year where the atmosphere at Gale is reasonably dust-free (at least, compared to later in the year), allowing us to look all the way out to and beyond the Gale crater rim. The upper slopes of Mount Sharp have also re-emerged to our east after spending months hidden behind the walls of Gediz Vallis. There's a bit more sand and dust in this location than we've seen recently, so we can also see the trail left behind by the rover's wheels as we drove to this location (see the image above). We're still deep in our examination of the boxwork structures that we're now driving through, so most of Curiosity's attention in this plan is focused much closer to the rover than any of the scenic vista surrounding us. APXS, DRT, and MAHLI will all take a look at “Cañón de Palca,” some bedrock close to the large fracture in this workspace. Mastcam and ChemCam RMI will image some boxwork ridges at “Caine,” and will also collaborate on imaging of the weekend's post-drive AEGIS target and a LIBS bedrock target “Doña Ines.” Mastcam's solo activities include taking a look at some layering at “Paniri butte” and at MAHLI to examine a speck of dust that may have fallen on the lens. We'll be driving away from this location along one of the boxwork ridges, which, at about 5 meters (about 16 feet) wide, is more than large enough to fit our car-sized rover. Post-drive activities are largely focused on environmental monitoring, including Navcam line-of-sight and dust-devil surveys to look at dust, and several Navcam cloud movies. As usual, ChemCam will also join the post-drive fun with an AEGIS observation. More environmental monitoring by REMS, RAD, and DAN fill out the remainder of this plan. Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Curiosity Blog for Sols 4614-4615: Driving Along the Boxwork released on July 29, 2025.

science.nasa.gov/blog/curiosity-blog-sols...

#Curiosity #MSL #MarsRover #NASA #Science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars #Blog

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

Tan colored dust obscures a rocky outcrop in front of the rover's robotic arm. The rocks in the rovers workspace are fractured, the outcrop has one larger fracture partially filled with darker sand. The surface of the rock has been softened after eons of erosion by wind blown sands and dust. In the workspace we can see the shadow of the rovers mast where the camera that acquired the images that make up this mosaic is mounted.

An orbital view of a section of a Tan colored Mt Sharp on Mars shows the current location of the rover. A white line has been drawn on the image that shows the path of the rover as it wove its way towards the boxwork section that it is exploring today. White dots on the path show where the rover paused each drive to conduct science and or recharge its batteries.

This is a table of drive data returned by the rover. I'm not sure if adding this alt text here is of use, but it may make it available to a text reader? Let me know if it adds value so I can add it next time An example of the text in the table Distance: This drive distance: 13.25 m Distance: To the landing Site: point-to-point: 13.30 km Drive: Sol / Days since landing: 4612 Drive: Number of drives since landing: 1287 Elevation: Mars Geoid (beginning of drive): -3624.33 m Elevation: Mars Geoid (end of drive): -3623.51 m Elevation: Change during drive: ▲ 0.82 m Elevation: Change since landing: ▲ 877.46 m Elevation: Lowest below landing: ▼ -20.34 m Elevation: Highest above landing: ▲ 877.46 m

A drive for Curiosity rover on its mission sol 4612. Attached is a post-drive workspace mosaic assembled from 15 overlapping Bayer reconstructed MastCam images, the detailed data from the drive, and a screenshot of the traverse map (with scale) showing the path […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this image of spherule-bearing regolith at Rowsell Hill using its arm-mounted WATSON camera on July 5, 2025 — Sol 1555, or Martian day 1,555 of the Mars 2020 mission — at the local mean solar time of 12:46:29. WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) is a close-range color camera that works with the rover’s SHERLOC instrument (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals); both are located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Andrew Shumway, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Washington It is not common for a rover to spot nearly perfect spheres in the soil beneath its wheels. Over two decades ago, the Opportunity rover famously discovered spherules made of hematite (nicknamed “blueberries”) near its landing site in Meridiani Planum. More recently, the Perseverance rover has similarly encountered spherules embedded in bedrock and loosely scattered throughout the region informally called “Witch Hazel Hill.” In a previous blog post, we described Perseverance’s investigations of a spherule-bearing outcrop at the “Hare Bay” abrasion patch, where the team later collected a core. With the “Bell Island” sample added to the rover’s collection, the science team next decided to take a closer look at loose spherules in the area, which appear to have eroded out of the nearby bedrock. On Sol 1555, while the United States was celebrating the Fourth of July with hotdogs and fireworks, Perseverance was hard at work studying spherule-rich regolith at the target “Rowsell Hill” using the proximity instruments on its robotic arm. SHERLOC’s Autofocus and Context Imager and WATSON camera both captured high resolution pictures of the target (shown above), while PIXL measured the elemental makeup of the spherules and surrounding grains. Despite their superficial similarity to Opportunity’s “blueberries”, the spherules at “Rowsell Hill” have a very different composition and likely origin. In Meridiani Planum, the spherules were composed of the mineral hematite and were interpreted to have formed in groundwater-saturated sediments in Mars’ distant past. By comparison, the spherules in “Rowsell Hill” have a basaltic composition and likely formed during a meteoroid impact or volcanic eruption. When a meteoroid crashes into the surface of Mars, it can melt rock and send molten droplets spraying into the air. Those droplets can then rapidly cool, solidifying into spherules that rain down on the surrounding area. Alternatively, the spherules may have formed from molten lava during a volcanic eruption. With these new data in hand, the Perseverance science team continues to search for answers about where these spherules came from. If they formed during an ancient impact, they may be able to tell us about the composition of the meteoroid and the importance of impact cratering in early Mars’s history. If they instead formed during a volcanic eruption, they could preserve clues about past volcanism in the region around Jezero crater. Either way, these spherules are a remnant of an energetic and dynamic period in Mars’ history! Learn more about Perseverance’s science instruments For more Perseverance blog posts, visit Mars 2020 Mission Updates

Spheres in the Sand: Perseverance rover science team blog released on July 29, 2025.

https://science.nasa.gov/blog/spheres-in-the-sand/

#Perseverance #MarsRover #M2020 #NASA #science #Space #Exploration #Solarocks #Mars #blog

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

It may have moved, but Perseverance rover managed to abrade some of the targets weathered surface for further investigation. Here's two images from Sol 1567 (July 17, 2025), a processed NavCam tile (for context), and a close-up of the patch from the SHERLOC […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

7 months ago

Pushing a rock around on Mars! Time lapse from Perseverance Rover's HazCam (timestamps included). Watch closely, to see the movement of the shadows from the robotic arm, the rock, the sand grains, the drill mechanism, and the dust all moving around. Animation […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Mars Cleans Perseverance and Erases Its Work:
Mars Guy - Episode 222.
Perseverance is a robotic field geologist observing the aftermath of events that occurred millions to billions of years ago. But it's also a witness to events happening today that have shaped the surface of Mars across […]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Meanwhile of Mars:

Curiosity Rover's robotic arm workspace during mission sol 4588 (July 3, 2025) after a drive to the northwest of ~23 meters (~76 ft). Assembled from 15 Bayer reconstructed L-MastCam sub-frame images. Image Credits […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Meanwhile on Mars!

A short drive (bump) sees Perseverance rover move to a new robotic arm workspace. The attached processed image uses 6 overlapping NavCam tiles. The image tiles were acquired after the drive to RMC site 77.0, during mission sol 1551 (July 1, 2025). The image was assembled in […]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Meanwhile on Mars!

Another drive in the crater rim campaign / walkabout, sees Perseverance rover still searching for a site to collect a core sample. Here's a composite image using 6 overlapping processed NavCam tiles, that were acquired after the drive to RMC […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Curiosity spots distant honeycombs.

Mars Guy: Episode 221.

The Curiosity rover carries a small telescope that can provide close-up views of places it will never reach. Recently its color camera viewed distant layered rocks that look interesting, but through its telescope they’re truly […]

Paul Hammond

@paulhammond51.fosstodon.org.ap.brid.gy

8 months ago

Perseverance rover's drill attempting to create an abrasion patch during June 27, 2025 (Sol 1547). This animation is assembled from 15 raw images, that captured by one of its front hazard avoidance cameras, over a period of about 10 minutes. Image Credit […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]