MSL Route Map Options

[Phil Stooke]

Update to sol 691. EDIT: See next map for corrected location of the target Reed.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Update to sol 692. EDIT - note that I have corrected the location of Reed.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Another sol, another bit closer to Hidden Valley.

Phil

[jmknapp]

I upgraded the curiosityrover.com track map to OpenLayers 2 which supports touch events like touch-drag, pinch to zoom, etc. It seems to work fine on the Android mobile devices I've tried (Chrome), less well on Windows and not so much on Firefox.

If someone with an iPad would try it out I'd appreciate it:

http://curiosityrover.com/rovermap1.html

[PaulH51]

I upgraded the curiosityrover.com track map to OpenLayers 2 which supports touch events like touch-drag, pinch to zoom, etc. It seems to work fine on the Android mobile devices I've tried (Chrome), less well on Windows and not so much on Firefox.
If someone with an iPad would try it out I'd appreciate it:
http://curiosityrover.com/rovermap1.html

Joe,

Works like a charm on my iPad, running the Safari browser...

Tried the pinch, drag, zoom + & -, zoom slider, the up/down/left/right navigation buttons, the overlays all seem to work fine, but some were grayed out

Only one tiny observation the button to hide / show the overlay options could be partially hidden by the edge of my screen, not sure if this is a global change that you have introduced as it is the same on my laptop running Chrome... If memory serves me right, it used to be a + symbol... It still works so it is just cosmetic if not part of the new layout.

Thanks for a great page

[jmknapp]

Ah, thanks--I just made the map window a little less wide so the + icon is fully visible.

The greyed-out layers in the layer switcher are those that currently aren't being displayed (due to either the zoom level or where the map window is). If you zoom out far enough the Viking layers should be selectable. For some reason Mars_Viking_30N_60N isn't greyed out when zoomed in--haven't tracked down that one yet.

[Phil Stooke]

Another c. 20 m drive on sol 696. I don't know where some of the new names are, but I will make corrections if needed when the Mastcam pics come down.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

I had to revise the last position and this one is still a bit uncertain but should be pretty good. I moved a name based on the feature that was imaged, but the named features are still not certain here.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

A good clear position this time... but I may revise the route a bit.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Sol 705 looks like a small move to the southeast to get into position for the descent into the valley.

EDIT - replaced with a version reflecting the proper locations of the rocks Thimble and Resting Spring.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Update to sol 706.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Update to sol 709, a short drive into the middle of Hidden Valley.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

... and a shorter drive back up the tracks towards the previous location.

Phil

[nogal]

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 2024May25: For the most recent route update see Post #2163
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
• 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: 636


Fernando

[Zeke4ther]

Welcome to the forum Fernando. As always, any new contributions are always welcome.
Keep it up! We will look forwards to having one more way to look at Mars.