When Curiosity, the next Mars rover, arrives at the Red Planet
next summer, it will be exploring Gale Crater, NASA announced
today.
The crater is nearly 100 miles in diameter and is home to a
layered mountain three miles high. Clay minerals form the lower
layers while sulfur and oxygen-bearing minerals sit above. Channels
carved into the mountain and the crater wall suggest that water
once flowed through the region. The car-sized Curiosity rover will
land at the foot of the mountain and slowly make its way up,
exploring it layer by layer.
John Grotzinger, project scientist for Curiosity and Fletcher
Jones Professor of Geology, describes the landing site in this
video.
Curiosity will launch in November of this year and land on Mars
in August 2012. The rover will spend two years roaming the planet,
searching for clues as to whether Mars is—or ever
was—able to support microbial life.
