14 DAY TRIAL // Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena, California, are currently in the process of planning a new route for the rover Curiosity, to take it beyond the rugged terrain ahead, and onward towards its major science targets.
At this point, the shortest way to the slopes of 5-kilometer (3-mile) Mount Sharp would take the rover through an area featuring sharp rocks, which JPL investigators determined to be more likely to damage the machine's aluminum wheels. Other routes are safer, but will take longer to travel.
Curiosity has traveled a total of 4.89 kilometers (3.04) miles on the surface of Mars, since landing in August 2012. This year, it has already traveled 264.7 meters (865 feet), but the rover needs to take a break now as researchers calculate the best and most efficient way forward.
The main concern for the team now is the state of the aluminum wheels, which became dented and crack throughout last year, and especially in the last quarter of 2013. All drives are now being performed carefully and in small increments, with special care paid to analyzing their impacts on the wheels at all times.