rekordy: Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity, were launched from Earth on 26 November 2011. As of October 19, 2026, Curiosity has been in Gale Crater on the planet Mars for 5049 sols (5187 total days; 14 years, 74 days) since landing on 6 August 2012. (See Current status.)

Evidence: 96 • authority: 72

Curiosity is a Mars rover that is exploring Gale crater and Mount Sharp on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Launched in 2011 and landed the following year, the car-sized rover continues to operate more than a decade after its original two-year mission. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 26, 2011, at 15:02:00 UTC and landed on Aeolis Palus inside Gale crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17:57 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey. Mission goals include an investigation of the Martian climate and geology, an assessme…

Evidence: 54 • authority: 88

Gale crater: the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Site. Abstract Gale crater formed from an impact on Mars ∼3.6 billion years ago. It hosts a central mound nearly 100 km wide and ∼5 km high, consisting of layered rocks with a variety of textures and spectral properties. The oldest exposed layers contain variably hydrated sulphates and smectite clay minerals, implying an aqueous origin, whereas the younger layers higher on the mound are covered by a mantle of dust. Fluvial channels carved into the crater walls and the lower mound indicate that surface liquids were present during and after deposition of the mound material. Numerous hypotheses have been advocated for the origin…

Evidence: 34 • authority: 88

Characterization of clasts in the Glen Torridon region of Gale crater observed by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover. Granule- to cobble- sized clasts in the Glen Torridon region of Gale crater on Mars were studied using data captured by NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover between sols 2302 and 2593. The morphology and composition of clasts have the potential to reveal the nature and extent of erosional processes acting in a region. In this study, measurements of shape, size, texture and element abundance of unconsolidated clasts within lower Glen Torridon were compiled. Eight primary clast types were identified, all of which are sedimentary and can be compositionally li…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 80

Gale Crater on target to become next Mars landing site

Evidence: 27 • authority: 80

Abundance retrieval of hydrous minerals around the Mars Science Laboratory landing site in Gale crater, Mars

Evidence: 27 • authority: 80

Geologic mapping and characterization of Gale Crater and implications for its potential as a Mars Science Laboratory landing site