Curiosity Rover Reroutes To Avoid Rocks

NASA has confirmed that it has chosen to reroute the path of the Curiosity Rover exploring the surface of Mars. The reroute was done to avoid patches of knife-edged rocks encountered in the path of Mount Sharp.

For most of March, curiosity has been climbing an area known as Greenheugh Pediment. The area is described as a gentle slope capped with sandstone rubble. On March 18, mission controllers encountered an unexpected terrain changed and realized they would have to turn around.

The path in front of the rover was covered with wind-sharpened knife-edge rocks known as ventifacts. The team says the area in front of the rover had more of this type of rock than they’ve seen in the entire decade of exploring Mars.

It was precisely that type of rock that damaged the wheels of the rover earlier in the mission. With accelerated wheel damage, the Curiosity team has taken great pains to avoid damaging the wheels further.