Being a bit vexed by not having the revised landing ellipse in the KMZ file, I spent several hours looking for information on it. I did a thorough search of all the topics in the MSL forum and looked at a lot of web resources. The meager result is "an ellipse sized approximately 12x4 miles" and several images . Next, I experimented to draw an ellipse in GE, using the size values as a start and the images to guess the center's location. After a lot of attempts, here are the parameters that seem to provide a reasonable fit:

• Center: 137.399007 E, -4.59846 N
• Semi-major axis: 10,076.064 m
• Semi-minor axis: 3,318.688 m
• Rotation: -3.7º (of the ellipse's axis relative to a coordinate system with origin at the center)

I used the following Mars radius: 3,396,200 m

If someone is kind enough to send me better parameters (thank you!) I'll gladly use them.


Here is a comparison of the generated ellipse to the one shown at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/mult...ml#.U-UK2mO9b0w




And a "validation" at finer detail, using the path on sols 671-677, when MSL crossed the ellipse, as shown in http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/Curios...ol0677-full.jpg




I'll add the ellipse (or a better one) in a future post.

Fernando

Thanks for the welcome and encouraging words. In order not to scare too much the Papua I will not be posting updates everyday, especially when there is no drive or, like today, the drive is short. Anyway I'll wait for "Where is Curiosity" to validate the drives.

Fernando

I would like to start my first post to UMSF by thanking its many contributors. It is a joy to follow the posts, year after year. As a Planetary Society member, I fully endorse the Society's support of UMSF. Allow me, please, to also convey my congratulations and sincere thanks to the MSL and MER teams, JPL and NASA. Because this is the route map topic, I must also send a special thank you to Eduardo Tesheiner, Emily Lakdawalla, Joe Knapp, and Phill Stooke.

Eduardo has got us all used to great Google Earth (er... Mars) route maps for MER. There has been some attempts to create a similar one for MSL, but I could not find a complete one. I was missing the "freedom to wander around" and see the route from many perspectives, so I have decided to create one. I have not mastered the art of SPICE/NAIF data extraction, but JPL regularly publishes "Where is Curiosity" pages. GE allows pinpointing locations to 6 decimal places of a degree, or about 6cm at the surface of Mars. It should then be possible to locate features with an error smaller than 50cm. While wanting to be precise, I decided this was good enough.

To commemorate MSL's landing second anniversary I am sharing the KMZ file. It is work in progress, and there are features I intend to add, time allowing.

EDIT 2024Nov23: For the most recent route update see Post #2243
EDIT 2019Sep26: A User's Guide with a full description of all features is available. See Post #1605
EDIT: For the latest edition of the "The Martian Way User's Guide" see Post #1700
EDIT: To download a high resolution map of Gale crater encompassing Curiosity's traverse, past and future, viewable in Googe Earth (and zoomable) see Post #1078
A few comments:

• Route: The location data comes primarily from the PDS data sets. Location data not yet in the PDS is obtained from the JPL MSL site and created validated by visually matching the route in "Where is Curiosity" (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/whereistherovernow/) to the GE mars image of Gale. This is not a very high resolution image, which contributes to imprecision. I also use Phil's posts and the curiosity.com site as help, as well as Emily's posts and blog in PS. The name "Curiosity" marks the last validated location. Any route beyond that point which may be present is provisional.
  I have divided the route in segments (five, so far). For each segment the path, sols, and locations and targets' names can be individually toggled on or off.
  Edit:
  • I have replaced my data for sols 0 through 952 with PDS Rel 9 data, see Post #666.
  • Route now includes PDS Rel 10 data for sols 0 through 1067, see Post #739.
  • PDS Rel 11 route data for sols 0 through 1167 added. See Post #769.
  • Added route data from PDS Rel 12 covering sols 0 through 1301, see Post #845.
  • Added data from PDS Rel 13 - path data for sols 1 to 1433 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1417, see Post #912
  • Added data from PDS Rel 14 - path data for sols 1 to 1571 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1514, see Post #965
    
  • Added data from PDS Rel 15 - path data for sols 1 to 1689 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1648, see Post #1049
  • Added data from PDS Rel 16 - path data for sols 1 to 1781 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1772, see Post #1106
  • Added data from PDS Rel 17 - path data for sols 0 to 1877 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1869, see Post #1158
  • Added data from PDS Rel 18 - path data for sols 0 to 2034 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2003, see Post #1227
  • Added data from PDS Rel 19 - path data for sols 0 to 2166 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2127, see Post #1245
  • Added data from PDS Rel 20 - path data for sols 0 to 2313 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2224, see Post #1271
  • Added data from PDS Rel 21 - path data for sols 0 to 2429 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2358, see Post #1321
  • Added data from PDS Rel 22 - path data for sols 0 to 2555 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2482, see Post #1347
  • Added data from PDS Rel 23 - path data for sols 0 to 2604 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2579, see Post #1379
  • Added data from PDS Rel 24 - path data for sols 0 to 2783 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2713, see Post #1424
  • Added data from PDS Rel 25 - path data for sols 0 to 2924 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2837, see Post #1444
  • Added data from PDS Rel 26 - path data for sols 0 to 3000 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 2934, see Post #1508
  • Added data from PDS Rel 27 - path data for sols 0 to 3113 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3068, see Post #1591
  • Added data from PDS Rel 28 - path data for sols 0 to 3217 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3192, see Post #1627
  • Added data from PDS Rel 29 - path data for sols 0 to 3322 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3289, see Post #1723
  • Added data from PDS Rel 30 - path data for sols 0 to 3424 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3423, see Post #1798
  • Added data from PDS Rel 31 - path data for sols 0 to 3567 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3547, see Post #1866
  • Added data from PDS Rel 32 - path data for sols 0 to 3687 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3644, see Post #1911
  • Added data from PDS Rel 33 - Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3778, see Post #2007
  • Added data from PDS Rel 34 - path data for sols 0 to 3905 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3902, see Post #2062
  • Added data from PDS Rel 35 - path data for sols 0 to 4089 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 3999, see Post #2118
  • Added data from PDS Rel 36 - path data for sols 0 to 4169 and Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 4133, see Post #2188
• Names: are taken from the "Where is Curiosity" pages and Phil's posts to this topic. It is quite possible I have missed some, and I am happy to add them if someone is kind enough to point them out to me.
• Odometer: data for km signposts is from Phil's posts to this topic, the Astrogeology news blog, the Analyst's Notebook, as well as "Where is Curiosity" pages.
  Edit: Where there is no data, the km and mi signpost locations have been changed using path lengths computed from the PDS data; I also added km and mile signposts from curiosity.com As discussed elsewhere, there are mismatches so those folders are not visible by default (but can be viewed).
• Edit: Post #1299 introduces the distance grids (to the origin - Bradbury Landing).
  
• Geological targets' names: are collected per segment and are not initially displayed by default, but can be toggled on.
• The quadrangles and their names can be toggled on or off, as well.
• Alas, KML does not have an ellipse object, so the landing ellipse is my attempt to approximate it with a many-sided polygon, see Post #505. It can be separately toggled on or off.
• Some places have a high density of names, and are best seen on a tilted view and at close quarters. Bradbury Landing is a good example.
• Edit: A new version with information by sol including images, was introduced in Post #693. Instructions on how to use this capability are included.
• Edit: The KML's file description has been extensively revised. Access it by clicking the link under the file name, on GE's side panel.
• Edit: Added information on drill holes (full set) and a full route, see Post #1591.
• Edit: Added path directional arrows, see Post #1699

I welcome any suggestions and corrections, and beg your patience to any delay in replying. I will continue this work, if people find it useful. Thank you for your patience (looong post). Enjoy

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_0710_2014AUG06.kmz ( 13.19K ) Number of downloads: 684


Fernando