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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4629-4630: Feeling Hollow
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image of its workspace, including the small crescent-shaped rock named “Wedge Tailed Hillstar,” visible in the image just above the letters “SI” written on Curiosity’s arm. Curiosity captured the image using its Left Navigation Camera on Aug. 13, 2025 — Sol 4628, or Martian day 4,628 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 08:54:46 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Elena Amador-French, Science Operations Coordinator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Earth planning date: Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025
Today’s team investigated the texture and chemistry of the bedrock within a topographic low, or hollow, found within the greater boxwork area. We will place our APXS instrument on the “Asiruqucha” target, some light-toned, small-scale nodular bedrock in the middle of our workspace. These data will help illuminate any systematic chemical trends between the hollows and ridges in this area. We always take an associated MAHLI image with every APXS measurement to help contextualize the chemistry. We will also observe a small crescent-shaped rock named “Wedge Tailed Hillstar” with MAHLI, visible in the above Navcam image just above the letters “SI” written on Curiosity’s arm.
We will use our remote sensing instruments to continue documenting the region taking stereo Mastcam images of “Cerro Paranal,” “Rio Frio,” and “Anchoveta.” The ChemCam instrument will take an image of, and collect chemical information for, the target “Camanchaca,” as well as use its Remote Micro Imager (RMI) to take high-resolution imaging of more distant boxwork features.
Once these observations are completed Curiosity will set off on a 30-meter drive (about 98 feet), taking us to an interesting ridge feature to investigate in Friday’s plan.
As usual we will continue to take our regular atmospheric monitoring observations using REMS, RAD, and DAN.
Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
Visit Mission Updates
Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
Visit the Science Instruments page
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
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Last Updated Aug 18, 2025 Related Terms
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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 2 min read
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4627-4628: A Ridge Stop in the Boxworks
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this close-up view of the rock target “Bococo” at the intersection of several boxwork ridges, showing bright millimeter-scale nodules likely to be calcium sulfate. Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover’s robotic arm, which uses an onboard focusing process to merge multiple images of the same target, acquired at different focus positions, to bring all (or, as many as possible) features into focus in a single image. Curiosity performed the merge on Aug. 10, 2025 — Sol 4625, or Martian day 4,625 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission — at 08:00:39 UTC. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Monday Aug. 11, 2025
Written by Lucy Lim, Planetary Scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
On the Curiosity team, we’re continuing our exploration of the boxwork-forming region in Gale Crater. A successful 25-meter drive (about 82 feet) brought the rover from the “peace sign” ridge intersection to a new ridge site. Several imaging investigations were pursued in today’s plan, including Mastcam observations of a potential incipient hollow (“Laguna Miniques”), and of a number of troughs to examine how fractures transition from bedrock to regolith.
With six wheels on the ground, Curiosity was also ready to deploy the rover arm for some contact science. APXS and MAHLI measurements were planned to explore the local bedrock at two points with a brushed (DRT) measurement (“Santa Catalina”) and a non-DRT measurement (“Puerto Teresa”). A third MAHLI observation will be co-targeted with one of the LIBS geochemical measurements on a light-toned block, “Palma Seca.” Because we’re in nominal sols for this plan, we were able to plan a second targeted LIBS activity to measure the composition of a high-relief feature on another block, “Yavari” before the drive.
The auto-targeted LIBS (AEGIS) that executed post-drive on sol 4626 had fallen on a bedrock target and will be documented in high resolution via Mastcam imaging.
Two long-distance imaging mosaics were planned for the ChemCam remote imager (RMI): one on a potential scarp and lens in sediments exposed on the “Mishe Mokwa” butte in the strata above the rover’s current position, and the second on an east-facing boxwork ridge with apparently exposed cross-bedding that may be related to the previously explored “Volcán Peña Blanca” ridge.
As usual, the modern Martian environment will also be observed with camera measurements of the atmospheric opacity, a Navcam movie to watch for dust lifting, and the usual REMS and DAN passive monitoring of the temperature, humidity, and neutron flux at the rover’s location.
The next drive is planned to bring us to a spot in a hollow where we hope to plan contact science on the erosionally recessive hollow bedrock in addition to imaging with a good view of the rock layers exposed in the wall of another prominent ridge.
Want to read more posts from the Curiosity team?
Visit Mission Updates
Want to learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments?
Visit the Science Instruments page
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity at the base of Mount Sharp NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Share
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