Curiosity Blog, Sols 4859-4866: One Small Crater and Thousands of Polygons

What Happened

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity?

Why It Matters

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 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4859-4866: One Small Crater and Thousands of Polygons NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image showing faint tracks behind the rover on April 9, 2026.

Key Details

  • The mission team used autonomous navigation during the end of this drive, so Curiosity herself made the decision to take the turns visible in the images.
  • The rover captured this image using its Left Navigation Camera on Sol 4861, or Martian day 4,861 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission, at 19:03:01 UTC.
  • NASA/JPL-Caltech Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Earth planning date: Friday, April 10, 2026 Curiosity spent the past week driving towards a small crater, about 10 meters (32 feet) in diameter.
  • Today the team informally named this crater “Antofagasta,” after a region and major city in Chile next to the Atacama.

Background Context

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 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4859-4866: One Small Crater and Thousands of Polygons NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image showing faint tracks behind the rover on April 9, 2026. The mission team used autonomous navigation during the end of this drive, so Curiosity herself made the decision to

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Source: NASAOriginal Link

Source: NASA

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