NASA’s Curiosity rover has taken its longest drive in the Red Planet.
The longest drive recorded on Thursday, which lasted for a day, placed the rover within an outstanding mileage reaching Waypoint 1, said NASA officials in their mission update on Tuesday. Its arrival at Waypoint 1 will put Curiosity about one-fifth of the way to its final destination, Mount Sharp – a five-kilometer high mountain.
The rover, during the long drive, went across 141.5 meters or 464 feet to the top of Panorama Point where it snapped shots of the Waypoint 1.
On Monday, the rover has driven roughly 75 meters or245 feet from the checkpoint.
Jeff Biesiadecki, Curiosity’s mission planner said in a statement, "We had a long and unobstructed view of the hill we needed to climb, which would provide an overlook of the first major waypoint on our trek to Mount Sharp. We were able to extend the drive well beyond what we could see by enabling the rover's onboard hazard avoidance system."
NASA officials clarified that a NASA spacecraft moving around Mars helped map out Curiosity’s 8.6-kilometer trail way to Mount Sharp. The scientists used photos amassed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to opt Waypoint 1 as Curiosity’s target. Once Curiosity arrives at the milestone, it will take a break for a few days to examine the area with its arm.
Scientists want to examine the waypoints passed by the rover during its expedition to be able to create a map of planet Mars.
John Grotzinger, Curiosity’s project scientist, added, "We want to know how the rocks at Yellowknife Bay are related to what we'll see at Mount Sharp. That's what we intend to get from the waypoints between them. We'll use them to stitch together a timeline – which layers are older, which are younger."
