Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, APXS Strategic Planner and Payload Uplink/Downlink Lead, University of New Brunswick, NB, Canada
Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 11, 2026
This week’s planning cycle included two workdays—Tuesday and Friday—following the Labor Day holiday on Monday, which marks the end of summer breaks for many team members in North America. The return to routine activities coincides with Curiosity’s ongoing exploration of the Martian surface.
Recent milestones include the 14th “Landiversary” on Aug. 6, surpassing a 1‑kilometer elevation gain, and reaching the 5,000th sol in early September. The next major anniversary, the 15th launch anniversary, is slated for Nov. 26, so operations are currently aligned with a more standard schedule.
The rover is progressing up the informally named “Valle Grande.” After climbing what appeared to be an erosional supersurface—a gap in the typical rock record—Curiosity now traverses a finely banded region. These bands, ranging from 25 to 200 meters in width, exhibit distinct morphological variations: some consist of sand‑rich, darker surfaces, while others present more continuous rocky outcrops, creating observable contacts between the different materials.
Tuesday’s terrain featured sparse, nodular outcrops with a rough texture, interspersed with abundant sand and coarse pebbly sand. APXS and MAHLI conducted contact science on brushed nodular bedrock at “Cerro Armazones” and “Monte Melimoyu.” ChemCam performed LIBS analyses on dark nodules at “Tuta Huallpas” and on the dark float rock “Acllahuasi.”
Following a ~60‑meter drive on Friday, the rover encountered primarily sandy terrain with a single small, rough‑textured outcrop near the vehicle. The block proved particularly interesting, displaying numerous small flakes and chips within laminated, smoother zones. Planned investigations include MAHLI imaging of “Yungay” and “Chiu Chiu,” APXS analysis at “Chiu Chiu,” ChemCam LIBS on “Puya Raimondii” (rough area), and LIBS on “Liolaemus Tacnae” (smooth area).
Throughout both planning periods, the ChemCam long‑distance imager and camera teams were active. In addition to near‑field imagery, Mastcam and ChemCam assembled mosaics of the buttes “Mishe Mokwa” and “Cordillera” on either side of the rover, as well as a view back toward the smaller butte “La Linea.” Mastcam also documented the “Chocolatal” scuff analyzed the previous week and produced a broader mosaic of the “Sullivan Field” sand sea, which contains ripples, mega‑ripples, and transverse aeolian ridges. Sullivan Field was named in honor of the late Robert Sullivan, a renowned Martian sand expert and valued member of the Curiosity science team.
Parallel to geological investigations, the environmental team maintained its standard monitoring activities, capturing dust‑devil movies, suprahorizon videos of the crater rim, and tau images to assess atmospheric dust levels.
Navcam and Mastcam surveyed the upcoming traverse, revealing subtle tonal differences that hint at the banded terrain ahead. These variations will be examined in detail as the rover approaches each distinct band.
Also Read
- Password Manager vs. Authenticator App: Finding the Right Balance for 2FA
- Parasitic Worm Eggs Identified in Filipino Farmer’s Brain Following Sudden Neurological Episode
- Apple weighs its first server since the Xserve, and as always, Nvidia may hold the key
- Metal Detectorist Uncovers Vast Roman Silver Hoard from Era of Emperor Hadrian in Germany
