CaltechAUTHORS
Published June 2014 | Version Supplemental Material + Published
Journal Article Open

Overview of the Mars Science Laboratory mission: Bradbury Landing to Yellowknife Bay and beyond

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Jet Propulsion Lab
  • 2. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 3. ROR icon Washington University in St. Louis
  • 4. ROR icon Imperial College London
  • 5. ROR icon Stony Brook University
  • 6. ROR icon Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes
  • 7. ROR icon Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology
  • 8. ROR icon Brock University
  • 9. ROR icon Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • 10. ROR icon Planetary Science Institute

Abstract

The Mars Science Laboratory mission reached Bradbury Landing in August 2012. In its first 500 sols, the rover Curiosity was commissioned and began its investigation of the habitability of past and present environments within Gale Crater. Curiosity traversed eastward toward Glenelg, investigating a boulder with a highly alkaline basaltic composition, encountering numerous exposures of outcropping pebble conglomerate, and sampling aeolian sediment at Rocknest and lacustrine mudstones at Yellowknife Bay. On sol 324, the mission turned its focus southwest, beginning a year‐long journey to the lower reaches of Mt. Sharp, with brief stops at the Darwin and Cooperstown waypoints. The unprecedented complexity of the rover and payload systems posed challenges to science operations, as did a number of anomalies. Operational processes were revised to include additional opportunities for advance planning by the science and engineering teams.

Additional Information

© 2014 American Geophysical Union. Issue Online: 12 July 2014; Version of Record online: 05 June 2014; Accepted manuscript online: 12 May 2014; Manuscript accepted: 07 May 2014; Manuscript revised: 29 April 2014; Manuscript received: 04 February 2014. The MSL Science Team and all those who contributed to the design, development, testing, and operation of MSL are acknowledged for their roles in the mission's success. During early operations, the MSL Project Manager was Pete Theisinger, the Deputy Project Manager was Richard Cook, and the Mission Manager was Mike Watkins. Presently, the Project Manager is Jim Erickson and the Deputy Project Manager is Jennifer Trosper. Nicole Spanovich is the Science Operations Team Chief, and Andy Mishkin leads Integrated Planning and Execution. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Attached Files

Published - 2014JE004622.pdf

Supplemental Material - 2014je004617readme.docx

Supplemental Material - auxiliary_material_text01.docx

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2014JE004622.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
105155
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20200828-155534134

Funding

NASA/JPL/Caltech

Dates

Created
2020-08-28
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2022-11-30
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)