spacetoday.net: Curiosity crosses dune, breaks 5-km mark

Curiosity crosses dune, breaks 5-km mark

Posted: Thu, Feb 13, 2014, 9:25 AM ET (1425 GMT)
MSL self-portrait, November 2012 (NASA/JPL)

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recently crossed a sand dune in its path towards Mt. Sharp and broke the five-kilometer mark in its traverses on the Red Planet, project officials report. Curiosity went over the top of a sand dune in a 7-meter trip across what scientists dubbed Dingo Gap on February 6. Rover controllers sent Curiosity over the dune rather than have the rover pass over rockier terrain, given concerns about wear and tear on the rover's six wheeels. Yesterday, JPL reported that Curiosity had broken the five-kilometer mark in its cumulative travel across the planet since landing in Gale Crater 18 months ago.