File photo of NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is holding its head high with pride as the agencys Curiosity rover marks eight years of its exploration on the Red Planet today on August 5.

Launched in November 2011, the Curiosity rover landed on Mars at the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometres) Gale Crater on the night of August 5 in the year 2012.

Over the years, the Curiosity Rover has helped the scientists on Earth to understand various mysteries of Mars that would have otherwise remained impossible.

As the mission marked eight years, NASA has released a list of all the major results given by the agencys rover over the years.

Here's a look at them:

1. Evidence of continuous water flow on the surface of Mars in the past: One of the most important questions about living conditions on Mars included information about the presence of water and oxygen. Curiosity discovered smooth, rounded pebbles, confirming that water like rivers and lakes existed on Mars' surface for perhaps a million years or longer.

2. Proofs about suitable living conditions: It was the Curiosity rover which confirmed that Mars has a combination of living conditions that can support living microbes on its surface. These included the presence of sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon, found from a sample dug from the Yellowknife Bay.

3. Presence of organic carbon: The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument discovered the presence of organic molecules in several samples collected from Mount Sharp and the surrounding plains on the Red planet.

4. Presence of Active Methane in Atmosphere: The Tunable Laser Spectrometer, present in the SAM instrument, successfully discovered the traces of atmospheric methane in Mars atmosphere. It also found that the content has increased ten-fold over two months.

5. Harmful effects of Mars Radiation to Human health: Each atmosphere comes with certain levels of radiation. The Curiosity rover experienced that the radiation levels in the Mars atmosphere might exceed the tolerance limit for astronauts.

6. Atmosphere and Water in Mars' Past: Over the last few years, the SAM instrument has established that Mars has an atmosphere which has the presence of heavier forms (isotopes) of hydrogen, carbon, and argon.

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8 Years of Curiosity: How the NASA's Mars Rover Helped Us Know the Red Planet Better - News18