• 2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4812-4819: Back Into the Hollows Mars Science Laboratory Mission Team Members Written by Diana Hayes, Graduate student at York University, Toronto Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. • 20, 2026 This has been a pretty routine week for Curiosity. • As wasmentioned last week, we’re now in the final phase of the boxwork exploration campaign. • We’re currently making our way toward the eastern contact of the boxwork formation with the surrounding geology, which we plan to drive along before turning our attention to the southern contact. • That will likely be our last opportunity to directly interrogate the boxwork area before we continue our adventure up the slopes of Mount Sharp. • Along the way, we’ve been performing our usual investigations of the geology that we encounter at our parking locations.

Article Summaries:

  • Curiosity’s Sols 4812‑4819 marked the final phase of its boxwork exploration campaign. The rover is now heading toward the eastern contact of the boxwork formation, planning to follow it before turning to the southern contact-its last chance to directly interrogate the boxwork before ascending Mount Sharp. At its parking sites, the team conducted contact science on nearby bedrock, performed ChemCam LIBS analyses, and captured ChemCam RMI and Mastcam mosaics, including deeper views of the “Tapiche” hollow and the “Los Flamencos” ridge. Meanwhile, the environmental science group continued routine atmospheric monitoring, tracking dust devils, airborne dust, and cloud activity; no signs of a dust storm have emerged, and the planet remains clear of a global event for eight years.
  • Written by Diana Hayes, Graduate student at York University, Toronto Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 20, 2026 This has been a pretty routine week for Curiosity. As was mentioned last week, we’re now in the final phase of the boxwork exploration campaign. We’re currently making our way toward the eastern contact of the boxwork formation with the surrounding geology, which we plan to drive along before turning our attention to the southern contact. That will likely be our last opportunity to directly interrogate the boxwork area before we continue our adventure up the slopes of Mount Sharp. Al

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