Space & Astronomy
Curiosity rover celebrates its 6th birthday
By
T.K. RandallAugust 6, 2018 ·
7 comments
Curiosity has spent its existence trundling around on the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA
The iconic rover, which landed on Mars six years ago, has celebrated with a self-congratulating Tweet.
When it launched from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas V rocket back in November 2011, there were concerns that the mission would end in failure - not only because of the rover's large size relative to previous rovers, but also because of the ground-breaking 'sky crane' landing system needed to get it on to the surface of Mars in one piece - something that had never been used in a mission before.
Much to everyone's relief however, Curiosity touched down successfully in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012 to rapturous applause from the mission team - it was a tremendous achievement.
In the years that followed, the car-sized rover would go on to cover more than 11 miles of the Red Planet's dusty terrain, taking pictures, recording data and analyzing samples.
Now in celebration of its six years on Mars, the rover's Twitter account has been updated with a celebratory message alongside a photograph of its own nameplate.
"I touched down on #Mars six years ago," the message reads. "Celebrating my 6th landing anniversary with the traditional gift of iron... oxide. (It puts the red in Red Planet.)"
Here's hoping that Curiosity will continue to explore Mars for many more years to come.
Source:
CNET.com |
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Tags:
Mars, Curiosity
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