NASA’s Curiosity Rover Reaches Its 3000th Day on Mars – NASA Mars Exploration

As the rover has continued to ascend Mount Sharp, its found distinctive benchlike rock formations

Its been 3,000 Martian days, or sols, since Curiosity touched down on Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, and the rover keeps making new discoveries during its gradual climb up Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain it has been exploring since 2014. Geologists were intrigued to see a series of rock benches in the most recent panorama from the mission.

Stitched together from 122 images taken on Nov. 18, 2020, the missions 2,946th sol, the panorama was captured by the Mast Camera, or Mastcam, which serves as the rovers main eyes. Toward the center of the panorama is the floor of Gale Crater, the 96-mile-wide (154 kilometer-wide) bowl that Mount Sharp sits within. On the horizon is the north crater rim. To the right is the upper part of Mount Sharp, which has rock layers that were shaped by lakes and streams billions of years ago.

The curved rock terraces that define the area can form when there are harder and softer layers of rock on a slope. As the softer layers erode, the harder layers form small cliffs, leaving behind the benchlike formations. They can also form during a landslide, when huge, curved slabs of bedrock slide downhill. Curiositys team has seen benches before in Gale Crater, but rarely forming such a scenic grouping of steps.

Our science team is excited to figure out how they formed and what they mean for the ancient environment within Gale, said Curiositys project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which built and manages the rover.

But dont expect a rover this busy to stay put: Soon after capturing the new panorama, it was off for higher ground. This year, the rover has been driving across a clay-bearing region called Glen Torridon. After making a pit stop at a location nicknamed Mary Anning, its continued toward the next major layer, called the sulfate-bearing unit.

For more about Curiosity, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/

For more about NASAs Mars program, visit:

https://mars.nasa.gov

News Media ContactsAndrew GoodJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-393-2433andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Alana Johnson / Grey HautaluomaNASA Headquarters, Washington202-672-4780 / 202-358-0668alana.r.johnson@nasa.gov / grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

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NASA's Curiosity Rover Reaches Its 3000th Day on Mars - NASA Mars Exploration