NASA Curiosity Rover Begins Eastbound Trek on Martian Surface
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has set off from its landing vicinity on  a trek to a science destination about a quarter mile (400 meters) away, where  it may begin using its drill.
PASADENA,  Calif. -- NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has set off from its landing vicinity on  a trek to a science destination about a quarter mile (400 meters) away, where  it may begin using its drill.The  rover drove eastward about 52 feet (16 meters) on Tuesday, its 22nd Martian day  after landing. This third drive was longer than Curiosity's first two drives  combined. The previous drives tested the mobility system and positioned the  rover to examine an area scoured by exhaust from one of the Mars Science  Laboratory spacecraft engines that placed the rover on the ground."This  drive really begins our journey toward the first major driving destination,  Glenelg, and it's nice to see some Martian soil on our wheels," said  mission manager Arthur Amador of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,  Calif. "The drive went beautifully, just as our rover planners designed  it."Glenelg  is a location where three types of terrain intersect. Curiosity's science team  chose it as a likely place to find a first rock target for drilling and  analysis."We  are on our way, though Glenelg is still many weeks away," said Curiosity  Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology in  Pasadena. "We plan to stop for just a day at the location we just reached,  but in the next week or so we will make a longer stop."During  the longer stop at a site still to be determined, Curiosity will test its  robotic arm and the contact instruments at the end of the arm. At the location  reached Tuesday, Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) will collect a set of images  toward the mission's ultimate driving destination, the lower slope of nearby  Mount Sharp. A mosaic of images from the current location will be used along  with the Mastcam images of the mountain taken at the spot where Curiosity  touched down, Bradbury Landing. This stereo pair taken about 33 feet (10  meters) apart will provide three-dimensional information about distant features  and possible driving routes.Curiosity  is three weeks into a two-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science  instruments to assess whether the selected study area ever has offered  environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. JPL, a division of  Caltech, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in  Washington.More  information about Curiosity is online at:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl,http://www.nasa.gov/mslandhttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.You  can follow the mission on Facebook and on Twitter at:http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosityandhttp://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity.