In this episode, Curiosity takes a huge risk and climbs a very steep hill to get on top of a ridge,
loses its balance and takes a 1.8-billion-pixel image.
After taking 2 drill samples at a site known as Glen Etive, Curiosity takes a selfie.
These annotations show the crater rim in the distance, as well as Vera Rubin Ridge. Curiosity
has made a lot of progress through Glen Torridon, formerly known as the clay-bearing unit.
While the team at NASA celebrate thanksgiving, they order the rover
to complete its biggest panorama yet. This image contains nearly 1.8 billion
pixels, and is the most detailed image ever taken on another planet.
The view looks over the whole Glen Torridon area, with Vera Rubin Ridge in the distance.
We can see the rovers tracks through the clay-rich unit.
As we zoom in on the formidable Mount sharp, we can see a ridge.
This is part of what s known as the Greenheugh Pediment , and Curiosity will
eventually have to climb up it to access higher layers on the mountainside.
Curiosity makes good progress towards the Greenheugh Pediment and currently sits on
a small hill known as Western Butte . The plan for now is to simply drive up
to the Greenheugh Pediment to get a better look at the rocks there.
This visualisation shows the proposed route. The rover is currently on its way to touch the
Greenheugh Pediment, before it will track back around into the clay-bearing unit once again
and then head to a more accessible route on to the Greenheugh pediment.
The rover edges closer to the Greenheugh Pediment.
Geologists desperately want to gather data from the top of the structure,
and so talks begin between engineers about a possible climb for Curiosity.
Then, on Sol 2649, Curiosity wakes up with a bad attitude, quite literally.
The rover is feeling dizzy, and stops all operations. Just like us humans,
Curiosity needs to have an awareness of itself relative to its environment. This data is normally
stored in its memory and tracks things like the angle of the slope it sits on, how close
its arm is to the ground and if there are any big rocks nearby that could pose a hazard.
The rover evaluates this data before engaging any motors to make sure that any movements can
be performed safely. When the answer is no, the rover freezes in place and waits for the ground
team to guide it on the next move. The team at NASA discover a problem with
Curiosity s attitude. The aerospace definition of attitude is how an object is placed in a 3D
space - basically it s 3D orientation. So we can confidently say that Curiosity currently
has a bad attitude. (This is an English joke that will not translate well!)
After the ground team inform Curiosity of its proper attitude, the journey continues.
This map shows Curiosity s current location on Sol 2654. The rover is now very close to
the overbearing Greenheugh Pediment. To access data from the top of Greenheugh,
the rover will have to start climbing. Although this takes the rover on a little detour from
it s proposed route, the engineers agree that it s possible and worth the risk.
Before making the climb, Curiosity uses its dust removal tool on a nearby rock.
Multiple exposed mineral veins are present in the image.
The team decides this area would make a good drill sample, so Curiosity drills another hole,
this time on a rock feature called Hutton . The drilling goes ahead perfectly without any issues
and produces grey amorphous tailings - enough for the sample inlet. If you ve noticed, each time
the rover drills, the colours of the tailings are different from the reddish surface.
This is the first hole the rover drilled on Mars. Evidently, the tailings in this hole are
reddish in colour, similar to the interior of this drill hole at the Aberlady site
in the clay bearing unit. But here at Hutton,
it s more greyish. Can you guess why? It s because oxygen reacted with iron in various
parts of the rock differently. The tailings on the left are red because oxygen had the opportunity to
react not only with the external rock surface, but also the interior. However, the image on the
right tells a different story. The oxidation could not penetrate deeper into the rock in this case.
This is particularly interesting for scientists because this kind of sedimentary rocks can house
the traces of organic life in the past. Rocks preserve traces of ancient life better when they
are not oxidized, because oxygen can break down the organic materials before they fossilise.
Although the rovers drilling went well, it was far from elegant.
The surface Curiosity sits on is so brittle that the rover s wheels crack the sedimentary rocks,
turning them into detritus and powder. As it looks for a way up the Greenheugh Pediment,
the rover catches an incredible close up view of the ridge from below. These stratified layers
are called nodules. These rocks are completely different from those of the clay-bearing unit,
but somewhat similar to those we saw at Vera Rubin Ridge.
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Another Sol on Mars, and another chance for Curiosity to take a selfie after
its successful drill campaign at Hutton. From the data that Curiosity has collected so far,
scientists are now convinced that Gale Crater was an oasis of water in the ancient past.
Water ran through the Gediz Vallis channel and spilled out into the clay bearing unit.
The Greenheugh Pediment resisted erosion and essentially became one big shoreline.
On Sol 2693, Curiosity begins the climb up the Greenheugh Pediment.
These raw images show the angle of the rover as it climbs. The incline is more
than 30 degrees. It s considered a very risky move, but engineers are comforted by the fact
that its not the steepest climb a rover has performed on Mars. The Opportunity rover
previously managed an even steeper climb, yet only by fractions of a degree.
The rover quickly takes a drill sample from the top and looks towards Mount sharp. There is no
viable route from here, so the rover must descend the hill and get back on the official path.
As the rover turns around to descend, it captures an incredible view from the
top of the Greenheugh Pediment. In the distance we can see the crater floor,
where Curiosity began this formidable journey. The rover is really making strides now.
In the next episode, the rover continues to climb Mount Sharp, captures stunning images,
takes more selfies and makes good progress towards Gediz Vallis Channel.
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