Curiosity Rover

The Curiosity Rover sometimes also called Curiosity Probe is a car-sized Pre-Astro Terran robotic rover used to remotely explore the Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL).

Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST aboard the MSL spacecraft and successfully landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 563,000,000 km (350,000,000 mi) journey.

The rover's goals included: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.

Curiosity's design also served as the basis for a planned Mars 2020 rover mission, which after several delays was finally launched ten years later. In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was extended indefinitely.

In April and early May 2013, Curiosity went into an autonomous operation mode for On25 days during Earth–Mars solar conjunction. During this time, the rover continued to monitor atmospheric and radiation data, but did not move on the Martian surface.

It's mission ended due to a failure in the power system for the probe's radios in 2017.

Shortly after the Terran Ascent, in 2092 the first colonists arrive at Mars. Over half of the settlements that are created over the next decade have their placement determined by the location of one of the unmanned probes used to explore portions of Mars prior to the Sarans landing on the White House lawn.

In 2094, Curiosity was relocated and several families started a small farm they called Curiosity farm. The farm gradually developed into a population center, with the initial families adopting the surname Curiosity within the first hundred years of the founding of the farm.

The small community grew and gradually became a large city, with a museum dedicated to the pre-astro exploration of Mars. The centerpiece of the Museum is an inert replica of the original Curiosity probe. Also within the Museum is a simulator where an individual can drive a simulation of the Curiosity rover and compare the results of it's instruments with modern ones.

For historical information see Curiosity (rover)