I’m a very geographically inclined individual. I appreciate maps, particularly a good topographic one. Navigation is something of a hobby of mine and recognizing where I am relative to the local terrain is one of my favorite parts about hiking. As such, I tend to have good geospatial memory and often relate my memories to the geographic place they happed in.

I’m now a former rover driver, but one of the things I really valued about being on the Curiosity operations team is that I managed to build up a similar type of memory on Mars. My time on the project started in the lower reaches of the Greenheugh Pediment when we started a long traversve over to Mt. Mercue. Then we went up what was essentially a slot canyon, back to another spot on Greenhuegh, and eventually to the Markerband valley. It was only a few miles and I could easily have completed the trek in an afternoon by foot on Earth.

But its not on Earth. It’s my memory of a walk on Mars and for that I will always be grateful.