GLOBAL – As every day passes there are advances in the field of science and technology. It’s been many moons since we sent a man to the moon and now, we have been trying to send a man to mars but before man landed there the world has managed to send a robot to the planet and it has to be said that the little guy is doing a pretty decent job of taking pictures of Mars.
It’s been 10 years since NASA’s Curiosity Rover landed on the Red Planet to search for evidence that billions of years ago, Mars had the conditions to support life. A decade later and this little rover is still carrying on strong and hoping to find reason for there to be, Ife on Mars.
Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral in November 2011 as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, and successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012.
In that time, the rover has driven about 29 kilometres and climbed 625 metres on the surface of the red planet.
The rover has drilled as many as 35 samples from the planet’s surface to detect evidence of conditions favourable for life. In total it has analysed 41 rocks and soil samples.
While the rover has helped scientists to discover that Mars could have supported ancient life on the planet, its mission was recently extended a further three years to continue to help scientists learn more about the planet’s past habitable environment.
The rover is fitted with 17 cameras, which have provided the eyes for scientists to help guide the craft and analyse the planet.
And those cameras have taken some striking images along the way.
