Nasa on Friday unveiled plans for its Mars rover Curiosity’s first road trip, part of a two-year quest to determine if the planet most like earth could ever have hosted microbial life, scientists said.
The one-ton nuclear-powered robotic science lab landed in a large crater near Mars’ equator on August 6 to search for organic materials and other chemistry considered key to life.
The rover’s primary target is Mount Sharp, a mound of layered rock three miles high rising from the floor of Gale Crater. Before beginning the 4.3-mile trek to the base of Mount Sharp, a journey expected to take months, the six-wheeled Curiosity will visit a relatively nearby site named “Glenelg,” which caught scientists’ interest because it includes three types of terrain.