NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Takes Longest Drive Yet to Panorama Point

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has been trundling along the Red Planet's surface for the past two months as it slowly makes its way to Mount Sharp. Now, the rover has made the longest one-day drive so far in its 13-month mission. It traveled 464 feet on September 5 before it arrived at Panorama Point.

Panorama Point is the crest of a rise. From it, the rover took photographs of a pale-toned outcrop area that the team named "Waypoint 1." This is just one of five selected waypoints that dot the rover's mission southwestward as it makes its trek toward Mount Sharp.

"We had a long and unobstructed view of the hill we needed to climb, which would provide an overlook of the first major waypoint on our trek to Mount Sharp," said Jeff Biesiadecki, a rover planner on the Curiosity team, in a news release. "We were able to extend the drive well beyond what we could see by enabling the rover's onboard hazard avoidance system."

Before Curiosity made it to Panorama Point, though, it was in the Glenelg area. There, the rover analyzed rock powder drilled from two outcrops in a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay." In the end, the rover found evidence of an ancient environment that would have been favorable for microbial life.

"We want to know how the rocks at Yellowknife Bay are related to what we'll see at Mount Sharp," said John Grotzinger, the mission's project leader, in a news release. "That's what we intend to get from the waypoints between them. We'll use them to stitch together a timeline-which layers are older, which are younger."

Currently, the researchers are taking advantage of the pictures from Panorama Point in order to select precisely where to pause for a few days to use instruments on Curiosity's arm. They plan to examine Waypoint 1. The rock targets being considered are about 245 feet southwest of Curiosity's position.

The Curiosity rover will continue its trek to Mount Sharp for many months after the work at Waypoint 1.

Want to learn more about the Curiosity mission? Check it out here.