Provisional update to sol 1168.
With all the twists and turns that this rugged terrain requires it might take another 100+ meters to reach Dune 1.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1168_2015NOV19.kmz ( 368.61K ) Number of downloads: 338

Update to sol 1162.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1162_2015NOV17.kmz ( 368.21K ) Number of downloads: 293

Update to sol 1158. Curiosity has just crossed into the Windhoek quadrant and is about 140m away from the dark sands.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1158_2015NOV11.kmz ( 367.8K ) Number of downloads: 322

Plotting Curiosity's path is often difficult, laborious, and error prone (my estimate of sol 1148 was off by about 2m). But... is a lot of FUN. I am grateful for all the information, and happy to help. Here is the update to sol 1151 plus provisional to sol 1153.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1153_2015NOV05.kmz ( 367.21K ) Number of downloads: 332

This is such a dificult terrain to be driving on (just see the 3D route map in Emily's blog) I can't resist adding a short map here.
Using Jan's excelent pan, Phil's reprojection, and after a lot of visual comparisons, here is where I think MSL is. A bit SSE of the location indicated by Phil.
Fernando

Update to sol 1127, with links to Phil's maps, plus provisional to sol 1144.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1144_2015OCT26.kmz ( 366.12K ) Number of downloads: 638

Provisonal update to sol 1127 and releasing a new version of the KML file.

This new version introduces information by sol, accessed by clicking the sol marker. With the exception of Sol 0, a new marker is added at the end of the drive for the sol. When the rover does not move over a period of several sols, a single marker represents those sols.

The information is displayed on a pop-up balloon and includes, from the top: a banner; the Sol number, or sol range, and the respective UTC start and end times; an optional comment, usually a highlight; links, also optional, to maps and images; sol descriptions, always included; and credits.

A sol's description is comprised of sol number, site number, UTC time at noon Local Mean Solar Time, some text, and links. The data for sols 1 through 938 is taken, or derived, from the MSL Curiosity Historical Overview available from the MSL Curiosity Analyst's Notebook. Clicking the description opens the respective Notebook page in GE. Data for the other sols is generated by me. These data will be replaced by Notebook data, as it becomes available. A link to JPL Curiosity's page of raw images for the sol is also included.

Links to maps and other images posted in UMSF are included in some, but not all, sols. Sols with such links are identified by a brown star marker; the other sols have a beige square marker. Sol 0 is a good starting point to get familiarized with this capability.

Note that the links open directly in GE and from there they can also be opened in a browser. GE may take a little while to fetch the pages and images. Sometimes hitting "reload" is necessary.

The KML file's description has been extensively revised. Access it by clicking the link under the file name, on GE's side panel.

I am indebted to UMSF members Glen James Nagle, a.k.a. Astro0, for creating a banner for the information pop-ups, and Phil Stooke, for authorizing me to include links to his posts' images. Any value this new capability might have is surely much augmented by their generous contributions.

I have wanted to add this capability for a long time, but kept refraining from implementing it because I thought it would make the file too big to be uploaded in UMSF. I finally decided to see how much big it would really be. I am very glad it is smaller than what I had expected.

Thank you for your patience (long post) and I hope you enjoy the Route Map. As usual, any feedback is very much appreciated.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1127_2015OCT11.kmz ( 366.18K ) Number of downloads: 659

At last, the promised reply to Paul's post on another thread.

I have been avoiding adding the planned routes to the MSL Route Map because I see them more like guidelines and deviations and changes do happen. I am aware of several versions! The Route Map, in contrast, "shows what has really happened", notwitstanding the landing ellipse and quadrants grid, which escape that category.

Krit has posted a route map, and your question made me think again. Perhaps it would be interesting to be able to compare the route maps and see their "evolution" as Curiosity finds the Mars ground truth. But I still want to maintain the Route Map criterion ... The way out is to have a separate KML (KMZ) for the planned routes. A great number of files can simultaneously be open in GE.

So here is a collection of "Planned Routes". I've drawn them by referring to a number of images and movie stills. Their resolution varies widely. So do not expect exact matches. There might be other routes which would be interesting to add and I'm willing to, should someone kindly point them out to me. Also, as usual, comments are welcome.

Fernando
 MSL_Planned_Routes_2015SEP29.kmz ( 168.41K ) Number of downloads: 712

Update to Sol 1112. Corrected route for sol 1110, added location names from the JPL Traverse Maps and targets from Phil's posts.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1112_2015SEP24.kmz ( 360.72K ) Number of downloads: 376

Hi Paul. Sorry for the belated reply. I am working on something ... and will post a proper reply on the route thread(not necessarily tomorrow )
Fernando

Provisional update to Sol 1110.
Fernando
 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1110_2015SEP21.kmz ( 360.52K ) Number of downloads: 711

GE gives an altitude difference of about 430 m between the base of the foothill and Curiosity's current location. And the distance (based on the sketch of the new planned route) is over 7Km.
Fernando

Update to Sol 1104. Added a 11Km mark, based on the location of the 10 Km mark as given by JPL.
I have been measuring the distance travelled by adding the lengths of each small segment as defined by the xyz coordinates in localizations, and this gives an aproximate travelled distance of 9950 m up to and including sol 952, which would place the 10 Km mark about 50m "earlier". I can't figure out where am I making an error.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1104_2015SEP14.kmz ( 360.24K ) Number of downloads: 585

Update to Sol 1097 plus provisional to Sol 1099.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1099_2015SEP10.kmz ( 359.98K ) Number of downloads: 566

I am adding here the following tip because I suspect it may be of help to several members. I hope it is ok.

Google has recently added a lot of new information to its Mars database on Google Earth. The rover traverse path has been extended to sol 1083, and sol descriptions and links to images have been added, amongst others. Apparently the path is misplaced and usability suffers from several issues, including long loading times. In private messages to me, other UMSF members have expressed similar views.

Some asked how to turn these GE features off, so here is a quick guide. Unfortunately, every time Mars is loaded in GE the Mars stuff appears, so the procedure needs to be repeated. Please refer to the attached image.

1. Start Google Earth and load Mars by clicking "Saturn" on the toolbar and selecting Mars from the pulldown.
2. On the left side bar locate the "Layers" zone and in it the "Rovers and Landers" inside the "Mars Gallery".
3. Now open (click) the "twistees" (the little triangle) for:
   1. "Rovers and Landers" and inside it click
   2. "MSL Curiosity Rover" and inside it click
   3. "Gale crater landing site"
4. Notice the blue boxes - they mean some things inside are selected but not all. Disable all the MSL stuff by clicking the "MSL Curiosity Rover" blue box.
5. Enable the terrain imagery by clicking the "HiRISE/CTX Overlay Map" empty box.

That's it.
Fernando

Update to Sol 1087. I believe Curiosity has passed the 11Km mark, but I'm not planting the flag just yet
Fernando
 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1087_2015SEP01.kmz ( 359.4K ) Number of downloads: 326

The recent release of MSL data to the PDS (thank you PaulH51 for pointing it out [link]) includes localization data in an easy to use format, and covers sols 0 through 952. Using these data to replace the one I visually gathered results, I believe, in a better KMZ file. So this version of the file is based on the PDS data. For the sols beyond 952 I'll continue to add the path as usual, replacing it by the data in future PDS releases as it becomes available. Hopefully, I will not be too far off ... The path from sols 1074 to 1080 is provisional.

The much richer data set - it has 10600+ data points, compared to just over 2000 - has the immediate consequence of growing the file size by 40%, but you will notice the much smoother path. It is so accurate that the path is now the true width of the rover, with wheel width track bars! If this can become a little cluttered in places, it also shows how Curiosity managed to sneak by some tight spots.

The data also enabled me to compute each segments' length in 3D space and, thus, better estimate the distance travelled (this is not influenced by wheel slipage or turns in place, as far as I can tell), replacing the km and mi flags (the mi are hidden but can be toggled to visibility). We are very close to the 11Km mark.

I have also added some names from sol 0 to 300. Enjoy and let me know how you like it.

Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1080_2015AUG22.kmz ( 358.91K ) Number of downloads: 613

@Floyd: Thank you! I do have a few ideas on how to improve it ...

@scalbers: yes that is possible. That would be really nice. But the KML code design needs to be well thought out in order not to exceed UMSF 1MB file upload limit.

Fernando

In the case you are not aware of this: if you installed Google Earth on a PC or tablet you already have Mars, Moon and Sky (it seems these are not available for the Android smartphone version). The "Saturn" icon on the GE toolbar allows choosing one of those databases.

My KMZ file contains a "hint" that it should run on the Mars environment, so if you have GE installed just click on the KMZ (as djllison indicated) and GE will prompt you to change to the Mars environment. However, you can choose to stay on Earth and see the route superimposed on Papua New Guinea (Post #497)

Fernando

Update to Sol 1073 plus provisional update to Sol 1074.
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1074_2015AUG15.kmz ( 251.37K ) Number of downloads: 838

Celebrating Curiosity's 3 (earthly) years of martian exploration

Fernando

Tentative update to Sol 1056. (withdrawal paliative?)
Fernando

 MSL_Curiosity_Route_Map_Sol_1056_2015JUL28.kmz ( 250.77K ) Number of downloads: 335

I just noticed that a new on-line interactive capability has been made available from the MSL JPL pages at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ (perhaps from other pages as well).

Named "Explore Mars TREK", it enables seing many features on Mars, as well as the rover's paths. It also has nome nice tools, for instance an elevation profile. I used it to attempt to answer Julius's question of elevation difference between Yellowknife bay and the then current position (Post #608), and obtained +59m.

Direct link: http://mars.nasa.gov/maps/explore-mars-map/fullscreen/

Fernando

Thank you for the head's up. I had never fully read the list of administrators and moderators. If it was a failure, it has now been corrected.
I also failed to detect the joke and my sole intention was to make a positive contribution.
Hopefully I hurt no one other than myself.
Fernando

Here is a link with information on Ted Stryk http://www.planetary.org/connect/our-exper.../ted-stryk.html

Fernando