NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Still Going 10 Years After Landing
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Curiosity set out to answer the question: Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes? Early in its mission, Curiosity's scientific tools found chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars. It continues to explore the rock record from a time when Mars could have been home to microbial life. Credit: NASA
Ten years ago, on August 5, 2012, a jetpack lowered NASA's Curiosity rover onto the Red Planet. This was the beginning of the SUV-size explorer's pursuit of evidence that Mars had the conditions needed to support microscopic life billions of years ago.
Over the past 10 years, Curiosity has driven nearly 18 miles (29 kilometers) and ascended 2,050 feet (625 meters) as it explores Gale Crater and the foothills of Mount Sharp within it. The Mars rover has analyzed 41 rock and soil samples, relying on a suite of science instruments to learn what they reveal about Earth's rocky sibling. It's success has pushed a team of engineers to devise ways to minimize wear and tear and keep the rover rolling. In fact, Curiosity's mission was recently extended for another three years, allowing it to continue among NASA's fleet of important astrobiological missions.
It's been a busy decade for Curiosity. The roving explorer has studied the Red Planet's skies, capturing images of shining clouds and drifting moons. It radiation sensor is helping NASA figure out how to keep future astronauts safe by measuring the amount of high-energy radiation they would be exposed to on the Martian surface.
But most significantly, Curiosity has found that liquid water, as well as the chemical building blocks and nutrients needed for supporting life, were present for at least tens of millions of years in Gale Crater. The crater once held a lake, the size of which waxed and waned over time. This means that each layer higher up on Mount Sharp serves as a record of a more recent era of Mars' environment.
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