Perhaps I'm mistaken but I think not: it seems that UMSP's https support has been discontinued.
Some months ago I started to receive a warning from the browser, when logging on, that the connection to the site is not encrypted, so the password is transmitted on the clear. The http port is being used.
Trying to connect via https gives the following error code: SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG
Should someone look this up? Thanks
Fernando

Update to sol 1946. A long drive of about 45m with a possible 180º turn at the start and one at the end (from Paul's panorama, a few hints in Damia's).
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1946_2018JAN27.kmz ( 611.54K ) Number of downloads: 214

Update to sol 1939. A bump of 5m to position Curiosity for the weekend as described in the Mission Updates.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1939_2018JAN19.kmz ( 609.73K ) Number of downloads: 212

Phil thank you for the tip about the grains' shadows. Still my brain wouldn't see a grove. Then I flipped the image vertically... et voilá!
Fernando

Update to sol 1933. Curiosity has passed the 18km mark!
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1933_2018JAN13.kmz ( 609.38K ) Number of downloads: 251

Happy New Year!

Here is another way to look at Curiosity's progress: location by major dates.


And here is the update to sol 1923, including a link to Phil's latest close-up map (to be updated if necessary).
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1923_2018JAN05.kmz ( 607.86K ) Number of downloads: 251

Here is a vertically exagerated view of the notional route Fred mentions. You can grab a KML file with it from here.
Fernando

Just as things were getting really interesting (Laphroig, Oban, Talisker, etc.) she moves away Great to see she decided to have some quality time and came back Seriously, I won't probably be posting any updates for a few weeks, so best wishes to everyone for 2018.

Update to sol 1910. Enjoy the Holidays. Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1910_2017DEC21.kmz ( 607.09K ) Number of downloads: 268

I was on my high-school-finalist's trip and my meager budget was about gone...

Update to sol 1905.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1905_2017DEC16.kmz ( 606.48K ) Number of downloads: 261

Thanks vikingmars. The height difference in the PDS data set (sols 0 to 1781) is approximately 294m, but Curiosity has continued her climb ever since.
Ah, Paris! When I was young I once climbed the Eiffel Tower till the second floor, the access was free. Many steps, a hard climb, but was rewarded with a magnificent view. Lovely photo, thank you.

Thank you Paolo!
I've made an elevation profile for the whole route and posted it in the Route Map thread.
Fernando

Curiosity continues to climb Mt. Sharp. It is now more than 330m (~1100 ft) above Yellowknife Bay, the lowest point in its route (thanks Paolo!). This is only a rough sketch, the elevation profile's alignment with the route is poor, but I hope it conveys the idea.
Fernando

Is it ok to revive this thread? This seemed like the right one to place these images.
I was reviewing Curiosity's route map after applying the PDS Release 16 data and suddenly got this view from Yellowknife Bay. I don't know quite why but I had always thought of the place as horizontal, perhaps because it had been a lake bed, but it isn't (of course geological processes can and do tilt flat surfaces, I've seen many examples) unless Google has it wrong. Just take a look:

It really slopes down and probably is the lowest point in Curiosity's path

The resident image wizards can do orders of magnitude better, but this is what I could squeeze out of GE. Cheers,
Fernando

This update to sol 1899 includes the data from the PDS Release 16, comprehending:
- Path data for sols 1 to 1781,
- Analyst's Notebook data for sols 1 through 1772.
Other changes and updates:
- New TORRIDON quadrant.
- I have thoroughly reviewed the path, to adjust for new data.
- The URLs for the MSL Raw images pages and Analysts Notebook entries were changed in accordance with changes made on those sites ^(*).
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1899_2017DEC09.kmz ( 605K ) Number of downloads: 268

(*) Google Mars' links have not been similarly updated and no longer function correctly.

Mars Science Laboratory Release 16

The NASA Planetary Data System announces the sixteenth release of data from
the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, covering data acquired from
Sol 1649 through Sol 1772 (March 26 to August 1, 2017).

This release consists of raw and derived data sets from the following
instruments:
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)
Chemistry & Micro-Imaging (ChemCam)
Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin)
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)
Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcam)
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)
Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
Mast-mounted Cameras (Mastcam)
Navigation Cameras (Navcam)
Position Localization and Attitude Correction Estimate Storage (PLACES)
Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS)
Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)
Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, Pointing C-Matrix, and Event kernels (SPICE)

The Mastcam and MARDI releases include newly published technical papers, which are included in the Documents directory.

To access the above data for this release:
https://pds.nasa.gov/tools/subscription_ser...-20171205.shtml

Thanks Paul. Curiosity drove about 19.2m on sol 1894 and is just a little over 7m from Kuruman's edge. She hasn't exactly been following the notional route (but I guess that is why they call it notional) according to which the down ramp to the next terrain type is about 260m away (in a straight line)...
Fernando

Update to sol 1891.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1891_2017DEC03.kmz ( 610.43K ) Number of downloads: 263

Meanwhile Curiosity passed the 11 mile mark. Update to sol 1877.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1877_2017NOV17.kmz ( 608.63K ) Number of downloads: 370

Update to sol 1871.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1871_2017NOV11.kmz ( 607.9K ) Number of downloads: 328

Update to sol 1867. Another sharp turn on this [undoubtedly] science-driven path.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1867_2017NOV06.kmz ( 606.98K ) Number of downloads: 379

I was away for a few days and unable to do any updates. So here is an update to sol 1850 (1853) with all of Phil's names in. Curiosity is about 50m from Kuruman's edge.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1853_2017OCT22.kmz ( 605.77K ) Number of downloads: 397

See also INTEGRAL sees blast traveling with gravitational waves

Hi Sean,
Thank you for your kind words, advice and tips. Ah, and I should add all the lovely images and videos. You know about image processing, I only know such a thing exists.
I was unaware of the openplanetarymap project. I'll take a good look at it. Cheers
Fernando

<warning>Long post</warning>

EDIT: I've just found the hard way that Dropbox has a daily traffic limit: It has been exceed. It should "unfreeze" itself but that may take a long time. Thank you for downloading the file and my apologies if you've been unable to. I am working to fix this problem, I hope to come back soon with a solution. I hope I've found a solution. F
EDIT 2: Hopefully Google drive does not have the same limitations (I searched but could not find them). I have copied the file to Google Drive and created a shared link which you'll find below. Thank you for your patience. F
Edit 3: I have removed the dropbox link since google drive seems to work and I needed the space.


A high resolution orbital map for MSL

I recently came across an extraordinary mosaic of HiRISE images of the Gale crater, assembled by Fred J. Calef III and Timothy Parker. Named "MSL Gale Merged Orthophoto Mosaic 25cm Oct. 2016" it was created to help with the analysis of Gale as a possible landing area. Thus, it covers all of Curiosity's traverse as well as the areas it will possibly visit in the future.

This find promised to simplify a project I've been working on for a couple of years, the long duration being due to lack of time on one hand and my poor grasp on GDAL and its utilities on the other. I have extracted from this huge (22.6 GB) mosaic a rectangle covering Curiosity's past and future (notional) path and created an MSL Orbital Map suitable for viewing on GE (tiled structure).

Despite being a small subset it takes 1.6 GB, approximately. In computing the subset's coordinates I have used 25-digit precision (a bit overkill, since USGS coordinates are 17-digit and GDAL uses 13 digits) in an effort to guarantee the best precision possible. You will be the judges of it. I do find it to be in good agreement with Curiosity's path, especially in those tight spots such as Dingo Gap and Marias Pass. But there is a misalignment with the HiRISE strips and the CTX mosaic provided by Google. Despite many attempts (and it does take a long time on my desktop to generate the tiles) I was unable to align it better and also could not eliminate the image's dark border. Hopefully this has a low impact.

EDIT: I have created a zip file which I have uploaded to Google Drive.
EDIT (2019Sep23): The file has been placed in the "The_Martian_Way" directory which will also contain other files related to this project. The link below has been updated accordingly.

Here is the link to a Google drive directory containing the file: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OJH...BbQ?usp=sharing

Here is the dropbox link - please use it only if the Google drive link does not work: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z4ywpeylsslwm7/M...talMap.zip?dl=0

The file has a top directory with two files in it (a kml file and an image) and many, many sub-directories with the tiles. If you would like to try it you will need about 3.5 GB of disk during installation, and 1.6 GB permanently.

To install:
1) Download the zip file using the link provided above and place it somewhere (desktop is fine).
2) Unzip the file to some location GE has access to.
3) Double click on the top directory's kml file, which will start GE.
4) It will ask to change to Mars, please select "yes".
5) To make it a GE permanent feature, right click on it (from GE left panel) and chose "Save to My Places". It will then load every time you start GE.
6) Delete the zip file to save space.

As the zip file takes a sizeable chunk of my Google space I won't be able to keep it there indefinitely. Perhaps, if you think it is of some value, another hosting site could be found.

Enjoy and please let me know of any problems or thoughts you may have. Thanks
Fernando

Update to sol 1837.
Fernando
 The_Martian_Way_MSL_Curiosity_Sol_1837_2017OCT06.kmz ( 603.79K ) Number of downloads: 356