- Date
- 2011–9999
- Mission
- Curiosity
#NASA#Mars#Curiosity
NASA’s Curiosity rover has been studying Gale Crater on Mars since 2012, reconstructing the planet’s ancient environments and habitability.
Mission timeline
Select a phase to read what happened. Every chapter has its own detailed page.
Gale Crater science
Curiosity found evidence that ancient Gale Crater once held habitable environments.
Read the chapter
Climbing Mount Sharp
The rover studies layers of sedimentary rock while climbing the central mountain.
Read the chapterFacts
- Launched in 2011.
- Landed on Mars in August 2012.
- Uses a nuclear-powered generator.
- Climbs Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater.
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New plates, trivia and behind-the-scenes updates as soon as they are ready.
Gallery
Check yourself
Why lower a rover on cables instead of landing on legs?
Answer in your own words — everything you need is in the article above.
Sources & further reading
- Mission overview and current science.
- Mission history and instruments.
- Mars Science Laboratory record.
- Public-domain Curiosity images.
Spaceflightpedia. (n.d.). Curiosity. Retrieved 9 October 2026, from https://spaceflightpedia.com/article/curiosity
article text — CC-BY-SA · ◉ NASA photography — public domain · ✦ AI illustration — marked, generated from sources
