10 years after its arrival on Mars, the brave Curiosity is still rolling. This valiant NASA rover is still surveying the red planet and informing scientists about the habitability of its environment.
NASA has had a scientific laboratory on the surface of Mars: the Curiosity rover for a decade. On August 6, 2012, the machine had indeed landed on the red planet, to study the habitability of Mars. While its initial mission was only supposed to last 687 days (just under 2 years), the robot far exceeded that expectation. Its resistance and longevity are well established.
Even though it shows signs of wear (Curiosity’s wheels have huge holes and it’s probably not going to get better), the rover continues to move forward and is even climbing a mountain. Here are its main achievements in figures, after 10 years of exploration.
29 kilometers
Since its first spins on Mars, Curiosity has advanced a distance of 29 kilometers. It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s actually a real journey for a robot to another planet. Keep in mind that the rover’s maximum speed is 4 centimeters per second, or 144 meters per hour, according to NASA. And, again, those magnitudes only hold true when Curiosity is rolling on a flat, hard surface. However, on Mars, no road exists and the obstacles are numerous. The robot must therefore progress very carefully. In fact, 29 kilometers represents a great distance that has been covered.
625 meters
Curiosity is a climber. Since arriving on Mars, he has managed to rise 625 meters during his exploration of the Gale crater. He is currently climbing the mountain at the center of the crater, Mount Sharp. An adventure started in 2014. This formation culminates at 5.5 kilometers from the crater.
41 samples
During its journey on Mars, Curiosity encountered rocks and soils that scientists deemed worthy of interest. Using its instruments, the rover collected and analyzed a total of 41 samples. Unlike Perseverance, it can’t save them so that they’ll one day be returned to our planet, but that doesn’t stop Curiosity from making itself very useful to scientists.
3,557 soils
As of August 8, 2022, Curiosity is on the 3,557th sol of its mission to Mars. Soils have nothing to do here with any surface: it is a term that designates the time that passes on Mars in one day on site. A sol lasts a little longer than the Earth day: about 1 day and 36 minutes.
966,440 pictures
Curiosity is passionate about rocks and soil on Mars and lets us know by regularly sending photos of its finds. In 10 years, the robot has sent 966,440 images to Earth. These are images qualified as raw, that is to say which have not been reworked. This impressive gallery of photos can be viewed on NASA’s website dedicated to the Curiosity mission. To contemplate the grandiose panoramas of the rover (created with the raw images, assembled), it’s here.
