NASA's Curiosity Rover Celebrates First Year on Mars
Posted on August 6, 2013
NASA's Curiosity rover has now been on Mars for over a year. Curiosity landed on Mars on Aug. 5, 2012, 10:32 pm PDT (Aug. 6, 2012, 1:32 a.m. ET).
Engineers at Goddard Space Flight Center are using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument to "sing" Happy Birthday to Curiosity. Take a look:
NASA says so far Curiosity has provided 190 gigabits of data and returned over 36,700 full images and 35,000 thumbnail images. Curiosity has also driven more than one mile (1.6 kilometers) on the surface of Mars. The image above shows Curiosity's travels. You can see a larger version of the map image here.
Curiosity team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will discuss the Curiosity mission in an event that will air on NASA Television and the agency's website from 7:45 to 9 a.m. PDT (10:45 a.m. to noon EDT) on Tuesday, Aug. 6. Immediately following that program, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (noon to 1:30 p.m.), NASA TV will carry a live public event from NASA Headquarters in Washington. That event will feature NASA officials and crew members aboard the International Space Station as they observe the rover anniversary and discuss how its activities and other robotic projects are helping prepare for a human mission to Mars and an asteroid.
NASA recently released the following video, "Twelve Months in Two Minutes," a time lapse video showing Curiosity's first year on Mars. Take a look: