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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rover, Curiosity, traveled 3,000 Martian days, or soils, on the Red Planet. Curiosity reached Mars on August 6, 2012. Upon completion of this milestone, the space agency shared an official note in which it mentioned the discoveries Curiosity has made so far.
In the note, NASA mentioned that Curiosity made quite a few discoveries while making its gradual ascent of Mount Sharp. He has been exploring the 5-kilometer-high mountain since 2014. One of the photos taken by Curiosity shocked scientists by showing a series of rock “shoals” in the mission’s most recent panorama. On November 18 of last year, a total of 122 photos taken by Curiosity were stitched together from the mission’s 2946th floor. The series of stunning photographs were clicked on by the Mast camera, or Mastcam, which is considered the eyes of the rover.
The note mentioned that the curving rock terraces seen in the images can form when there are harder and 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 bench-shaped formations. These formations can also occur during a landslide.
Ashwin Vasavada, Project Scientist, Curiosity, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NASA, said: “Our science team is thrilled to understand how they formed and what they mean for Gale’s ancient environment. . “
Previously, this rover has accomplished quite a few things like finding proof that the Red Planet once had persistent liquid water and discovering that the planet was once auspicious for life. In addition, he also found that organic carbon molecules, the building blocks of life, are also available on Mars. The rover was also able to send evidence of the presence of methane present and active in the atmosphere of Mars; it also detected levels of radiation that could be dangerous to human health. He made sure that the atmosphere on Mars was much thicker in the past than it is today.
Meanwhile, Curiosity will soon have company on Mars. The space agency will send another rover named “Perseverance” in February of this year. The main objective of this rover will be to bring samples from Mars back to Earth. This mission will also be the first round trip mission to another planet.
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