Blog Archive

Woohoo! The LEGO Curiosity rover is going to be a kit!

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/18 07:02 CDT

The awesome LEGO Curiosity rover designed by Stephen Pakbaz is going to go into production!

Pretty pictures: Curiosity working late

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/07 11:47 CDT | 2 comments

Just some cool photos of Curiosity lighting up the Cumberland drill hole after sunset for a little nighttime science work.

Curiosity update, sol 295: "Hitting the road" to Mount Sharp

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/06/05 04:54 CDT | 3 comments

There was a Curiosity telephone conference this morning to make an exciting announcement: they're (almost) done at Glenelg and are preparing for the drive south to Mount Sharp. Allow me an editorial comment: finally!

Curiosity drills at Cumberland, sol 279 (before-and-after flicker gif)

Opportunity and Curiosity updates: Rolling and drilling and a little wear on the wheels

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/05/20 11:27 CDT | 3 comments

For most of April, while Mars scuttled behind the Sun as seen from Earth, both Mars rovers were pretty inactive. Now that conjunction has ended, both are doing what rovers should be doing: roving and exploring. As of sol 3312 Opportunity had moved more than 300 meters southward toward Solander Point, while on her sol 279 Curiosity drilled at a second site, Cumberland.

Curiosity on Mars - Design, Planning, and the First Mars Year of Operations

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/04/26 04:14 CDT | 13 comments

Last month, I formally entered a new phase of my career: I signed my first book contract. I'll be writing a book about the Curiosity mission through its prime mission, for Springer-Praxis.

Tides of light and ice: Water and rock made from snowmelt on Mars

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2013/04/17 01:29 CDT | 4 comments

A recently published paper proposes that much of the sedimentary rock on Mars formed during rare, brief periods of very slight wetness under melting snow.