More than 11 years have passed since Curiosity landed on the Red Planet.
The American Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA shared the latest news from the expanses of the Red Planet. As the press service said, the Curiosity rover will celebrate its 4,000th day on Mars, continuing to engage in exciting scientific research.
We are talking about Martian days, or sols, which are slightly longer than those on Earth. In Earth days, Curiosity passed the 4,000-day mark a little earlier. As NASA said, the rover recently received the 39th sample and stored it for detailed analysis.
To study whether ancient Mars had the conditions to support microbial life, the rover gradually ascended Mount Sharp. This is a 5-kilometer-high mountain; its layers were formed during different periods of Martian history and clearly show how the planet’s climate has changed over time.
This is experience: NASA’s veteran rover Curiosity spent 4,000 days on Mars
The final sample was taken from a rock called Sequoia (all of the mission’s current science targets are named after locations in California’s Sierra Nevada). Scientists hope the sample will reveal more about how Mars’ climate and habitability evolved as the region became rich in sulfates, minerals that likely formed in salt water when Mars first began to dry out billions of years ago.
More than 11 years have passed since Curiosity landed on the Red Planet. The rover was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, and landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. At the time of writing the news, Curiosity’s “experience” on Mars totals 11 years, 3 months and 1 day, or 4110 Earth days.
