On Aug. 6, 2012, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission, comprised of the brand new rover, officially began when was successfully lowered onto the Martian surface via a first-of-its-kind skycrane. ‘s landing location was at the bottom of Mount Sharp (officially known as Aeolis Mons) in Gale Crater — a 3.5 billion-year-old crater that scientists imagine was once a lake.
Within the 11 years since its historic landing, has explored Gale Crater extensively, collecting data on Martian soil, rock formations, weather, and more. In September 2014, after exploring its landing region, named Aeolis Palus, and completing an eight-kilometer trek to the bottom of Mount Sharp, began climbing up the slopes of Mount Sharp. Each day since then, the rover has continued to slowly creep toward the highest of Mount Sharp and has made scientific discoveries that may change planetary science and astrobiology without end.
and its team will rejoice its eleventh anniversary by doing what the rover does best: exploring Mars. Throughout the last several weeks, explored a region of Mount Sharp called “Jau.” The region is roofed with dozens and dozens of small impact craters that and its team needed to rigorously navigate.
The variety of craters inside Jau made the region an area of interest for scientists. Planetary scientists rarely get the chance to view so many craters up-close and are desirous to learn more about what the region was like when liquid water freely flowed on Mars. As mentioned, Gale Crater was once regarded as a lake, and on condition that Mount Sharp sits at the middle of the crater, scientists also imagine that the five-kilometer-tall Mount Sharp was covered with tons of of rivers, streams, ponds, and more.
![](https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/PIA16768-MarsCuriosityRover-AeolisMons-20120920-scaled.jpg)
Curiosity’s view of Mount Sharp on Sept. 20, 2012. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
While scientists were desirous to explore and learn more about Jau and its links to ancient Mars, Jau was only a pit-stop for the rover because it continued to make its way up Mount Sharp. ‘s climb up Mount Sharp is amazingly impressive given the rover’s age and condition, nevertheless it definitely hasn’t been without its challenges.
The route has been following up Mount Sharp over the previous few months has been probably the most difficult climb the rover has faced yet. As Curiosity continues to climb higher and better up the mountain, slopes begin to get steeper and the Martian terrain becomes more jagged and dangerous. As a consequence of this, and its team have needed to be extra careful with the routes they take. Throughout May and June, climbed a slope that featured a 23-degree incline, slippery sand, and rocks the dimensions of ‘s wheels.
While the climb up Mount Sharp has definitely been difficult for , the climb has also brought with it an incredible deal of stress for the scientists that operate back on Earth.
“When you’ve ever tried running up a sand dune on a beach – and that’s essentially what we were doing – you understand it’s hard, but there have been boulders in there as well,” said rover “driver” Amy Hale of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California.
Though they’re called rover drivers, Hale and 15 other rover drivers/planners don’t actually drive . As a substitute, they write tons of and tons of of lines of code which can be sent to every day. These lines of code command ‘s mobility system and other instruments (i.e. robotic arm and drill) and supply the rover with a path to drive every day. Provided that is given commands once a day, a team of scientists and engineers must work together every day to debate the realm surrounding the rover and the very best route for to take the following day. Moreover, this team not only discusses route options but in addition surrounding rock formations and surface features that scientists might want to research up-close with cameras on its robotic arm.
When determining the route the rover will take the following day, the scientists and engineers must look very rigorously for hazards that will damage while driving across the Martian surface. The teams have a look at ‘s images for any signs of hazardous rocks or sand that might puncture a wheel or result in the rover getting stuck. The truth is, some scientists have a look at the photographs to be sure that no canyon partitions or rock formations obstruct radio communications with Earth. If the teams discover a hazard, they inform the rover drivers who then program to rigorously maneuver across the hazard.
Though 23-degree inclines and wheel-sized rocks definitely sound frightening and dangerous for , the rover’s teams back on Earth know the rover’s limits thoroughly and never put the rover in dangerous situations. Even in the event that they did, the rover is distributed commands to right away stop moving if it happens to seek out an unexpected hazard. These unexpected stoppages, that are known as “faults” by the team, occur often.
While climbing to and thru Jau, found its wheels slipping an excessive amount of and being raised too high by rock formations fairly often. When these scenarios occurred, the rover’s computers detected that the rover could also be at risk and immediately stopped all movement.
![](https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/1-pia26015-curiosity-1041.jpg)
Image from Curiosity, during its climb through Jau, showing wheel tracks where a fault occured. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
“We were principally playing fault bingo. Every day after we got here in, we’d discover we faulted for one reason or one other,” said ’s strategic route planning lead Dane Schoelen at JPL.
With fighting the unique route an excessive amount of, Schoelen and his team worked to place together a lateral detour that may have drive 150 meters away to an area where the incline leveled out. While the team ultimately sent the command to to take the detour, the team was still nervous that the terrain wouldn’t be exactly what it gave the impression to be. When planning routes and other rover activities, the teams utilize orbital imagery from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) alongside ‘s images to plan routes. While orbital imagery may be efficient when planning routes, terrain height and other hazards aren’t immediately obvious in MRO imagery.
Fortunately, Schoelen et al.’s detour paid off and successfully made its strategy to and thru Jau.
“It felt great to finally recover from the ridge and see that tremendous vista. I get to have a look at images of Mars all day long, so I actually get a way of the landscape. I often feel like I’m standing right there next to Curiosity, looking back at how far it has climbed,” Schoelen said.
See those pockmarks? That is a crater cluster!
I’m currently exploring the realm. My team desired to get a better have a look at these impact sites to learn more in regards to the cratering process on Mars. https://t.co/zT5yeipGFI pic.twitter.com/RVISMR3hj8
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) July 28, 2023
Since passing through Jau, scientists have begun investigating the region from data and imagery collected of the region. Jau is a crater cluster, that are small clusters of craters brought on by meteors breaking up within the Martian atmosphere before impact or fragments of distant meteoroid impacts. These crater clusters are common on Mars, and scientists are investigating how the soft rocks found inside the salt-enriched terrain of the clusters affect the way in which the craters form and evolve.
With Jau now behind it, will proceed to climb up Mount Sharp and investigate the secrets Mars holds inside its red soil. Mars is a particularly difficult place to concurrently investigate and navigate, but with 11 years of roving underneath their belts, and its incredible teams back on Earth show no signs of slowing down.