Mission Status Update August 22 Curiosity’s first drive, results from Chem Cam on “Coronation” rock, and Ghoulburn Scour, how the team has performed against the pre-landing plan.

Pre-Landing Plans vs Actual Activities ✔ ✔ Pete Theisinger reported on how well the rover and its team have performed against the pre-landing plan. Checkmarks denote that the team has completed first images, engineering checkouts, and a short test drive. Coming in a few weeks will be testing of the sample acquisition system by scooping soft soil at the Glenelg location, 400 meters to the east.

Curiosity’s First Track Marks on Mars PIA_16092: Curiosity's First Track Marks on Mars   This 360-degree panorama shows evidence of a successful first test drive for NASA's Curiosity rover. On Aug. 22, 2012, the rover made its first move, going forward about 15 feet (4.5 meters), rotating 120 degrees and then reversing about 8 feet (2.5 meters). Curiosity is about 20 feet (6 meters) from its landing site, now named Bradbury Landing. Visible in the image are the rover's first track marks. A small 3.5-inch (9-centimeter) rock can be seen where the drive began, which engineers say was partially under one of the rear wheels. Scour marks left by the rover's descent stage during landing can be seen to the left and right of the wheel tracks. The lower slopes of Mount Sharp are visible at the top of the picture, near the center. This mosaic from the rover's Navigation camera is made up of 23 full-resolution frames, displayed in a cylindrical projection. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Laser Plasmas on Earth and Mars PIA_16088: Laser Plasmas on Earth and Mars   This image shows laser plasmas in a test lab at Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., under typical atmospheric pressures on Earth and Mars. A plasma is an ionized, glowing gas. The pressure on the Red Planet is only about one percent of that at sea level on Earth, allowing the plasma to expand more and become brighter. The laser beam, which is invisible, crosses the image from the left and strikes a metal target, creating the plasmas. Each image covers about 3 by 3 inches (75 by 75 millimeters). Image credit: LANL

Zapping Rocks Exposed by the Sky Crane's Thrusters PIA_16090: Zapping Rocks Exposed by the Sky Crane's Thrusters   This photo mosaic shows the scour mark, dubbed Goulburn, left by the thrusters on the sky crane that helped lower NASA's Curiosity rover to the Red Planet. It is located 16 to 20 feet (5 to 6 meters) to the left of the rover's landing position. The sky crane appears to have uncovered an outcrop of loosely consolidated rocks during the rover's landing. The mosaic consists of six images from the remote micro-imager (RMI) on the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument, shown around an image from the Mast Camera for context. Each RMI image has a field of view of 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12 centimeters) across and shows details as small as 0.02 to 0.03 inches (0.5 to 0.6 millimeters). ChemCam's laser was used to analyze material at the centers of panels 2, 3 and 4. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/MSSS