we got a chance to look ahead with curiosity the other day. this photo looks up gediz vallis, a large valley carved into gale crater's large central mound, mt. sharp. (for reference, mt sharp is about the same height as denali.) someday soon, the rover will be driving more or less straight up this valley. when that will be isn't exactly clear, as the rover is currently making a detour away from gediz vallis to scope out the accessibility of some cool rocks which were deposited near the valley's mouth. if they're inaccessible, we'll be making tracks up the valley very soon; if they are, it could be a couple of months. although we won't be driving curiosity up the valley just yet, photos like this help us scientists plot out the future course of the rover by giving us a loose idea of what to expect going forwards.
as someone who has been following mars exploration since a teenager, it is truly fantastic to see curiosity starting to mountaineer. before curiosity, landing sites were selected to be flat, and therefore safe for the landing gear. even curiosity was landed out on the plains below mt. sharp. finally getting to see these gigantic mountain hills and valleys open up in front of us over the last few months has been magical.
photo details: taken sol 3646 (november 8, 2022)
photo credit: jpl/nasa/msss/aster cowart
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