Several members of the MSL team are currently in attendance at the 8th International Mars Science Conference being held at the Caltech campus in Pasadena this week. Among the first three speakers at the conference were two USGS Astrogeology colleagues. The first speaker, Ken Tanaka, presented the new global geologic map of Mars that he led the major mapping effort for. This map was included in the materials distributed to each registered attendee and received a round of applause from the audience for its significance.
Following Ken Tanaka, the third speaker, Oleg Abramov, shared the results of his detailed modeling on the impacts of bombardment on the early history of Mars. His findings suggested that the planet’s crust may not have been completely melted during this period, raising the possibility of habitable environments existing at that time. While the conference was ongoing, updates on MSL operations were somewhat limited. However, recent project reports indicate that the rover traveled over 82 meters last weekend, with plans for a more conservative drive on Sol 689 due to the rough terrain ahead.
The scheduled dates for rover activities mentioned in these reports are subject to change depending on various factors related to the Martian environment, communication relays, and the status of the rover itself. Despite the challenges, the MSL team continues to make progress in their exploration of the Red Planet.