Engineers successfully updated the Curiosity rover's computer software over the weekend and plan initial tests, within the next week or so, of the mobile science lab's ability to drive across the martian terrain, project officials said today.
"We couldn't be happier with the success of the mission so far," said Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory deputy project scientist. "Most significantly at this point, since we're still in our commissioning phase, we have a fully healthy rover and payload."
The Curiosity Mars rover shows up as a shiny blue dot on the floor of Gale Crater in this false-color photo taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The blast pattern of the rover's sky crane descent engines can be seen to either side.
(Credit: NASA)
Mission manager Mike Watkins said that with the successful installation of surface-optimized software, version R10, the initial phase of the rover's activation and checkout -- phase 1A -- is complete. Engineers are beginning phase 1B "and that includes a mobility checkout," he said.
"So (we will have) commissioned everything but the (robot) arm and the drill sampling system after about a week from now," he said. "That means there's a lot of science we can do.... We can drive around, go to a better target, sort of use our remote sensing equipment. And then we want to go into a phase where we check out all the arm joints, take the... [Read more]
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