Vasavada¹ et al. (>10)*
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

¹Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA

The Mars Science Laboratory mission reached Bradbury Landing in August 2012. In its first 500 sols, the rover Curiosity was commissioned and began its investigation of the habitability of past and present environments within Gale Crater. Curiosity traversed eastward toward Glenelg, investigating a boulder with a highly alkaline basaltic composition, encountering numerous exposures of outcropping pebble conglomerate, and sampling aeolian sediment at Rocknest and lacustrine mudstones at Yellowknife Bay. On sol 324, the mission turned its focus southwest, beginning a year-long journey to the lower reaches of Mt. Sharp, with brief stops at the Darwin and Cooperstown waypoints. The unprecedented complexity of the rover and payload systems posed challenges to science operations, as did a number of anomalies. Operational processes were revised to include additional opportunities for advance planning by the science and engineering teams.

Reference
Vasavada et al. (in press) Overview of the Mars Science Laboratory mission: Bradbury Landing to Yellowknife Bay and beyond. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
[doi:10.1002/2014JE004622]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

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