14 DAY TRIAL // Today, August 22, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is scheduled to take its first drive on the surface of the Red Planet. This will be the first time the 1-ton robot moves its wheels since touching down on Mars, on August 5/6.
Two days ago, on August 20, mission managers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, tested the capabilities of all four steerable wheels, and found them to be in perfect working condition.
Curiosity's first drive will be nothing fancy. Its drivers plan to move it just one length forward, the equivalent of 10 feet or 3 meters. A 90-degree turn to the right will follow, where the rover will have to turn in the same spot, followed by a backwards drive over a few meters, Space reports.
Glenelg, the first science target established for the rover, is located some 400 meters (1,300 feet) away. It will represent the medium-term goal for the machine, once it begins full-time operations.