"We have the first roving astrobiology laboratory roving on Mars." That was one of the first phrases uttered in today's status report on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity, which took its first drive today. At a press conference held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the people managing the mission also described the checkout of its instruments, some of the science that's already coming down from Curiosity, and the plans for the next few weeks.
The conference started with a tribute to Ray Bradbury, author of The Martian Chronicles, who would have turned 92 today. In tribute, NASA has named Curiosity's touchdown site Bradbury Landing.
From there on out, however, everything was focused on the getting away from that spot. The key to that ability, obviously, is the rover's drive system, and there the news was very good. "We have a fully functioning mobility system on our rover," the JPL staff announced, before describing the short drive it went on today. That drive was a simple 4.5 meters forward, a turn in place, and then 2.5m in reverse, with the mast camera scanning the wheels the whole time. Despite the length of the drive, this was enough to confirm that the drive system could manage a full rotation both in forward and reverse, and that its positioning system was functioning properly.
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