NASA’s Curiosity rover completes 2,000 Martian days on Red Planet, releases image

The Curiosity rover launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to test and explore Mars completed 2,000 days on the soil of the Red Planet.

The US space agency had released an image of the Martian soil to commemorate the Curiosity rover’s journey. The image provides a scenic view of Mount Sharp, the mound which the Curiosity rover had been climbing since September 2014.

The image of the Martian soil and the Mount Sharp was taken in January 2018 and offered a preview of the next primary target of the Curiosity rover, an area on the planet which the scientists have studied from the orbit and have claimed that it contains clay minerals.

As per NASA reports, the Curiosity rover landed on Mars in August 2016, and since then traveled 11.6 miles or 18.7 kilometers till now. The mission of the Curiosity found its first evidence in 2013 when the ancient freshwater-lake environment was discovered on the planet. The freshwater-lake environment offered all the basic chemical ingredients certain for microbial life.

Also Read: NASA's Curiosity rover marks five years exploring Mars

Since the Curiosity rover reached the Mount Sharp in August 2014, it has examined environments where both water and wind were present.

The rover’s international science team concluded that the habitable conditions on the Red planet had lasted for at least millions of years.

Recently, the Curiosity rover had again started its drill on the planet since December 2016. As per reports, a new process for drilling rock samples and bringing them to Curiosity’s onboard laboratories is still being carried out.