Curiosity update, sols 1311-1369: Drilling at Lubango, Okoruso, and Oudam, and a turn to the south | The Planetary Society
http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2016/06151502-curiosity-update-sols-1311-1369.html
Curiosity is at a turning point in its mission to Mount Sharp, both literally and figuratively. On sol 1369 (June 12, 2016), having descended the western edge of the Naukluft Plateau and drilled at three sample sites in 7 weeks, the rover took a left turn, changing its trajectory from a generally westward driving path to a southward one.
Curiosity turned south because it has finally reached the gap in the Bagnold dune field that has stood in the way of the rover's access to the mineralogically interesting rocks of Mount Sharp since landing day. The rover's southward course will take it into a landscape of isolated knobs called the Murray Buttes, and the rover will begin to steadily climb in elevation as it proceeds south. In this most recent self-portrait, the rover gazes toward the south, in the general direction of its future travel.
