This week, Curiosity has driven toward a rock that will likely be the first that the rover will touch with instruments on its robotic arm. The football-sized rock has been dubbed “Jacob Matijevic” in honor of the surface operations systems chief engineer for Mars Science Laboratory and Curiosity rover who passed away Aug. 20, at age 64. Curiosity now has driven six days in a row. Daily distances range from 72 feet to 121 feet (22 meters to 37 meters).

“As we’re getting closer to the light-toned area, we see thin, dark bands of unknown origin,” said Mars Science Laboratory Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. “The smaller-scale diversity is becoming more evident as we get closer, providing more potential targets for investigation.”

Earlier this week, Curiosity also turned its Mastcam toward the martian sky and capture images of Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos passing in front of the Sun.