The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rover, Curiosity, has completed 3,000 Martian days, or only, on the red planet. Curiosity arrived on Mars on August 6, 2012. At the end of this milestone, the space agency shared an official note mentioning the discoveries Curiosity has made so far.
In the note, NASA mentioned that Curiosity has made quite a few discoveries while making the gradual climb to Mount Sharp. He has been exploring the 5-kilometer-high mountain since 2014. One of the photographs that came through Curiosity surprised scientists by showing a series of rock banks in the most recent panorama of the mission. On November 18 last year a total of 122 photos taken by Curiosity from Sun 2,946 of the mission came together. The series of stunning photographs were clicked with the mast camera, or Mastcam, which is considered the eyes of the rover.
The note mentioned that the curved rock terraces seen in the images can be formed when there are harder, softer layers of rock on a slope. Explaining how this happens, the agency said that when the softer layers start to erode, the harder layers form small cliffs. This process leaves behind some bank-like formations. These formations can also occur during a landslide.
Ashwin Vasavada, project scientist, Curiosity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, told NASA, “Our scientific team is excited to find out how they formed and what they mean for Gale’s ancient environment.”
Previously, this explorer has accomplished quite a few things like finding evidence that the red planet once had persistent liquid water and discovering that the planet was suitable for life. In addition, he has also found that organic carbon molecules, the basic components of life, are also available on Mars. The rover was also able to send evidence of present and active methane into the Mars atmosphere; it has also detected levels of radiation that could be dangerous to human health. One thing that has been assured is that the atmosphere of Mars was much thicker in the past than it is today.
Meanwhile, Curiosity will soon get a company on Mars. The space agency will send another rover called ‘Perseverance’ in February this year. The main purpose of this rover will be to bring samples from Mars to Earth. This mission will also be the first round trip mission to another planet.