National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Curiosity
NASAs JOURNEY TO

M a r s S c i e nc e La bora t or y
Curiositys Mission: Was Mars Ever Habitable? The long-term presence of water is key to carrying out parachute, then landing using a rocket-powered sky Quick Facts
lifes functions. Curiosity also found chemical elements crane system. The new techniques enabled a controlled ChemCam
Launch November 26, 2011 from Cape Canaveral,
NASAs Curiosity rover landed in Gale Crater on August6, common in living things, and carbon-based molecules that landing within a drop zone four times smaller than previ Florida, on an Atlas V-541 Mastcam
2012 (UTC). It is exploring the Red Planet as part of the are necessary for life as we know it. With its Prime Mission ous missions: 4miles by 12miles (about 7kilometers by Arrival August 6, 2012 (UTC) Bradbury Landing
Prime Mission August 2012 through September 2014 Yellowknife Bay
Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiositys main objec successfully completed, Curiosity is now in its Extended 20kilometers). Ultra-High-Frequency Antenna (Sol 125, 638 m)
Extended Mission October 2014 onward Curiosity discovered that Gale
tive is to determine whether Mars could have supported Mission.
Low-Gain Antenna
Crater once had environmental
small life forms called microbes. Microbes were among the Gale Crater is 96miles (154kilometers) wide. The 3mile- REMS conditions suitable for
Extended Mission Objectives MMRTG
first life forms on Earth, and are the most abundant living Curiositys Landing Site: Gale Crater high (~5kilometer-high) Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) rises High-Gain Antenna supporting microbial life.
like the peak of a sombrero at its center. The mountain Search for additional environments that may have been
things on our planet. Could microbial life have thrived on suitable for microbial life and for preserving evidence of
Mars, too? After an eight-month trip of about 354million miles contains layers of sedimentary rock laid down over time In just her first year, Curiosity
organic molecules RAD
(570million kilometers), Curiosity landed safely in Gale Cra by water and wind. Each layer records information about traversed a dry streambed to
Characterize the chemical and mineral composition of rocks DAN reach Yellowknife Bay, where
Early in its mission, Curiosity found signs that fresh water ter. Mission engineers pioneered the use of precision-land the climate conditions and geological events occurring as and soil, including organic molecules
CheMin and SAM drilled samples revealed evidence Darwin
was abundant, including an ancient streambed and ing techniques. These included steering the spacecraft the layer formed. Curiosity is exploring these layers to see
Study the role of water and changes in the Martian climate (inside the rover) of an ancient freshwater lake, (Sol 392, 2,853 m)
minerals that formed in water over long periods of time. as it flew through the atmosphere before deploying a which past environments could have supported life. over time key chemical elements used by
Characterize the radiation environment for future human MARDI life, and potential energy sources
missions to Mars microbial life needs to fuel
metabolism.
Science Instruments
As the rover journeyed to Mount
Remote Sensing Sharp, analyses of those samples
Mastcam Mast Camera Robotic Arm revealed organic molecules (the Cooperstown
chemical building blocks of life) (Sol 440, 4,183 m)
ChemCam Chemistry and Camera
MARDI Mars Descent Imager Mobility System
and nitrates (a vital source of
nutrients for living things).
Contact Instruments (Arm) MAHLI
APXS Scientists also developed a
APXS Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer revolutionary technique to
MAHLI Mars Hand Lens Imager determine the duration that
Brush surface materials may have been
Analytical Laboratory (Rover Body) exposed to harmful radiation. Kimberley
SAM Sample Analysis at Mars Scoop That information helps them (Sol 589, 6,129 m)
Drill
CheMin Chemistry and Mineralogy in their search for organic
molecules.
Environmental Instruments
The rover continues to explore
REMS Rover Environmental Monitoring Station The Rover Curiosity aids in NASAs Journey to Mars, in which robots
the layers of Mount Sharp for
RAD Radiation Assessment Detector make key discoveries and test novel technologies to pave more clues about the potential
The size of a small car, Curiosity has six wheels to carry
Sol 953 Mastcam mosaic DAN Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons the way for astronauts to go to Mars. for microbial life in its ancient
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS it over rough and varied terrain, from ancient riverbeds to
past. Edge of Landing Ellipse
Rover Size the layered deposits of Mount Sharp. The rover has 10 ad
More Information (Sol 672, 8,207 m)
Length 10 feet (3 meters), not including the 7-foot vanced science experiment packages, including one with
Layer-by-layer changes in the texture and These dark boulders may These rounded buttes Curiosity has encountered
(2.1-meter) arm a laser that zaps rocks to reveal their chemical content. mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl
composition of the mountain record the be remnants of ancient on Aeolis Mons contain small, sandy ripples like
evolving environmental conditions of early sand sheets (later turned sulfate minerals, perhaps these along its traverse. In Width 9 feet (2.8 meters) Several of its instruments are deployed on the tip of a long www.nasa.gov/msl National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Mars. Rock layers at the top formed later into sandstone) that once indicating a change in the some cases, they cause Height 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall robotic arm, and three of its camera systems are mount Facebook.com/MarsCuriosity Pahrump Hills Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
than rock layers at the bottom. This fine- covered this area, but availability of water when the rover to lose traction, Weight 2000 pounds (900 kilograms) ed on a 7foot-tall (~2meter-tall) mast. A drill collects Twitter.com/MarsCuriosity (Sol 753, 9,458 m) Pasadena, California

grained, dust-covered mudstone is the now have been eroded they formed. posing a hazard to driving. powdered rock samples for analysis by the two miniatur www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars www.nasa.gov
rock that forms the base of Aeolis Mons. away by wind. Heating and Electrical Power ized laboratories onboard. The rover communicates all Marias Pass
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of
It likely was deposited as sediment within Radioisotope Power System a Multi-Mission engineering and scientific data back to Earth through three (Sol 991, 10,774 m) JPL 400-1602 07/15
Technology, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for NASAs
an ancient, crater-filling lake. Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) radio antennae. Science Mission Directorate.