Mars Rover's Terrifying Plunge! What Did It Find in the Hollows?!

## Curiosity Blog, Sols 4812-4819: Back Into the Hollows

Mars Rover's Terrifying Plunge! What Did It Find i...

It’s been another week on Mars for our trusty rover, Curiosity. According to Diana Hayes, a graduate student at York University, Toronto, and a member of the Curiosity team, the past few sols (Martian days) have been relatively "routine" – though let's be honest, routine on Mars is still pretty extraordinary. Hayes' latest blog post, covering sols 4812-4819, gives us an update from the red planet, dated February 20, 2026.

Curiosity is currently wrapping up its exploration of the "boxwork" formation, a fascinating geological feature that the team has been intensely studying. As Hayes explains, the rover is now heading towards the eastern edge of this formation, where it meets the surrounding terrain. The plan is to navigate along this contact point before shifting focus to the southern boundary. This southern contact will likely be the last chance for Curiosity to directly analyze the boxwork area before continuing its ascent up the slopes of Mount Sharp, the central peak within Gale Crater.

Along the way, Curiosity is keeping up its usual scientific investigations. That means getting up close and personal with the Martian bedrock for contact science, using the ChemCam LIBS instrument to analyze targets a bit further away, and capturing detailed mosaics with the ChemCam RMI and Mastcam. I always find it amazing how much data these instruments can gather, even from relatively small areas. These mosaics include deeper looks into the "Tapiche" hollow, where Curiosity is currently parked, and the "Los Flamencos" ridge to its south. The team is planning to investigate Los Flamencos more closely in the coming week.

And speaking of the Martian environment, it sounds like the red planet is entering its dusty season. The environmental science group is keeping a close watch on the atmosphere, tracking dust devils, cloud formations and the amount of dust floating around. They're using Navcam to create cloud movies and monitor the overall atmospheric conditions. So far, it seems the dusty season is behaving as expected, with no immediate signs of a major dust storm. It’s worth noting that it’s been almost eight Earth years (four Martian years!) since a global dust storm engulfed the planet. The scientists are, understandably, keeping a close eye on things this year, just in case.

It's fascinating to think that while we're going about our daily lives here on Earth, Curiosity is diligently exploring another world, sending back valuable data and stunning images. Here's hoping for a smooth journey and some exciting discoveries in the weeks to come as Curiosity continues its climb up Mount Sharp. We'll be sure to keep you updated!