NASA’s Curiosity Rover Hits Milestone After Driving 4,000 Days on Mars
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According to NASA, the car-size rover is about the height of a basketball player and uses its 7 foot-long arm, a kit of 10 science instruments, 17 cameras, and a laser to collect its rock samples.
After 11 years roaming the dry, desolate planet of Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover has reached the milestone of 4,000 Martian days since it first landed on the planet in August of 2012. The rover also recently collected its 39th sample of the planet's surface.
According to NASA, Curiosity is studying whether or not Mars has ever had the capabilities to support microbial life. To do so, the rover is making its way up the base of the 3-mile-tall Mount Sharp, where the layers of the planet can tell scientists how its climate has changed over time.
4,000 glorious sols
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) November 6, 2023
When I landed on Mars in 2012, I set off to find out if the planet was habitable to ancient microscopic life. After completing my prime mission in 2014, I’m still going strong at 4,000 sols on the Red Planet!
And I’m not done yet: https://t.co/83LUI9f82W pic.twitter.com/uRYUPUZQsP
Scientists are hoping the latest sample collected by Curiosity will reveal more about the climate and habitability of Mars. The region which the sample was collected from - named “Sequoia” - changed over time as the area became more rich in sulfates, which are minerals likely formed from evaporated salt water. The sample may help scientists discover how the planet’s climate changed as it dried up.
“The types of sulfate and carbonate minerals that Curiosity’s instruments have identified in the last year help us understand what Mars was like so long ago. We’ve been anticipating these results for decades, and now Sequoia will tell us even more,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the mission.
Like rings on a tree, the samples I drill reveal layers of Martian rock that can give more insight into Mars' history.
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) October 19, 2023
My latest sample, named after @SequoiaKingsNPS, will tell my team more about the sulfate-rich area I’m in. More on my latest drill: https://t.co/yy4pDqJyAI pic.twitter.com/Bq5ZvKX9Qt
NASA has indicated that Curiosity “remains strong” even after having to drive 20 miles (32 kilometers) through the cold, dust and radiation of the red planet. Curiosity’s energy source - nuclear power - has been monitored by engineers, and is reported to be at a capacity in which the rover can perform for many more years.
One of the rover’s “eyes," a 34-millimeter focal length camera on its left side, will have to be repaired by engineers before Curiosity is back in pristine condition.
For now, the team that manages Curiosity is planning to take a break for several weeks in November, as Mars is about to disappear behind the sun during a phenomenon known as “solar conjunction.” The plasma, according to NASA, can “interact with radio waves, potentially interfering with commands.”
As such, engineers are leaving the rover with a “to-do list” for their break this month. Hopefully, the rover will complete its homework by the time the scientists get back to work.
