Mars Science Laboratory Mission Team Members.
Written by Lucy Thompson, Senior Research Scientist, University of New Brunswick, Canada.
Earth planning date: Friday, Sept. 25, 2026.
The names were chosen after small towns associated with geological features. Our selected targets within those quads were then given unofficial names based on the theme of the quad. See the link here for more details on naming conventions on Mars.
Curiosity has long since climbed above the quads that were selected before landing, and before her 14-year, 38-kilometer trek, which included more than 1 kilometer of elevation gain.
We recently entered the new Cache Creek quad, named after an area of geological diversity in British Columbia, Canada. The area in Canada includes exposures of oceanic crust, marine sediments, volcanic rocks, and glacial deposits, as well as being home to lakes with chemistry that may be analogous to lakes that once existed on Mars.
We placed APXS in contact with the rock target to measure its chemistry, and the MAHLI camera to within 1 centimeter to examine in detail the textures. ChemCam also fired its laser at the Basque Lakes drill target to further characterize composition.
ChemCam was able to analyze the chemistry of another nearby bedrock target, “Peace River,” and use its imaging and passive spectroscopic capabilities to look at the new drill hole and surrounding tailings.
We also used Navcam and Mastcam imaging in the continued monitoring of environmental and atmospheric conditions in Gale crater.
The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four….