Sol 327: Shaler ops accomplished. Off to Mount Sharp!

It's now half past five in the evening of sol 327 of Curiosity's mission at Gale crater, Mars. Last week the rover was busy doing contact science on a rock called 'Shaler' with it's arm instruments.

Front Hazard Avoidance Camera image
taken on sol 323 showing contact science
done on Shaler (NASA/JPL)

MAHLI image taken on sol 323 showing
Shaler's scalloped and pitted surface.
(NASA/JPL/MSSS) 

On sol 324, Curiosity switched to reverse gear and back up from Shaler.

Navigation camera image taken on sol 324
after the short reverse drive from Shaler
(NASA/JPL)

On sol 327 the rover performed another drive which takes it further down the path to Mount Sharp's base. It will take a long while (maybe even a year) to get to the mountain and that will depend on how many other targets Curiosity will have to check out that the science team find interesting. This ain't Formula One for sure!

The Mastcam's (the science cameras that attached to the top of the camera mast alongside the navigation cameras and the laser-shooting ChemCam) right eye (100 mm) was used on sol 323 to take wonderful shots of part of the dark dune field near the base of the mountain where you can also see layered rock exposures which might be contain the coveted clay minerals like smectite which usually form only in the presence of liquid water. I have stitched them into a mosaic. Click the mosaic to biggify!

Mastcam right eye mosaic showing part of the dark dune
that the rover team wishes to avoid and dark outcrop
exposures of ancient rock at the base of the mountain
(NASA/JPL/MSSS/mosaic by Abraham Samma)