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Hi my name is Torsten Zorn I'm tactical downlink lead on the Mars Science Laboratory and I'm coming to you
with your Curiosity rover report. Since November 10th we've been tracking a very large dust storm on Mars
with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Curiosity and Opportunity. Luckily this dust storm has abated and even if
it didn't it would have been fine for Curiosity as well within its design limitations. Recently Curiosity was
able to take a beautiful hi-res image of herself using the MAHLI Hand Held Imager. By putting together a
sequence of very complex arm motions we were able to take dozens of images and splice them together creating
a beautiful self-portrait. After several weeks of being stationary at the Rocknest site we began driving
again on Sol 100. This marked a significant milestone on the mission as we reached about a half a kilometer
of total driving distance on the surface of Mars. Currently the left front wheel is sitting on a rock that
we've dubbed Bell Island. We plan to back up off that rock to bring the rock into the arm's workspace and
we're going to do some contact science on it with APXS and MAHLI. After completing our science campaign at
our current location we're going to be moving to the East to a place called Point Lake. From here we're
going to be looking for a target to perform our first ever drill on Mars. This has been your Curiosity rover
report. Check back for further updates.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology