NASA’s Curiosity rover celebrated its first year on Mars. It landed on Mars on the 5th of August 2012 (Kaufman). NASA sent Curiosity to Mars to investigate whether there is life on Mars. In it’s first year, Curiosity has provided NASA with many stunning images and discoveries. Among these discoveries is the finding of life on Mars. Before you go off and claim that Mars is the next Earth, it’s important to understand that based on the findings from Curiosity, scientists have concluded that Early Mars perhaps was habitable.
One of the captivating stories about Curiosity’s first year on Mars is how it landed on Earth. NASA used its newest technology, the Sky Crane, which dropped the rover onto Mars and flew off and crash-landed in another designated area. Interestingly, the Sky Crane was never tested, therefore Curiosity was it’s first trial. Many have claimed this event as the “7 minutes of terror” which displayed Curiosity’s risky landing (“NASA’s…”). Nonetheless, Curiosity landed on Mars safely and pursued its mission.
As mentioned earlier, one of the discoveries that Curiosity made was that Early Mars was habitable. This was Curiosity’s initial mission, which was to investigate Mars’ land, and by collecting samples for scientists they found that Early Mars had the ability to support microbes (“NASA’s…”; Kaufman). More so, from the samples collected they found that clay materials and small amounts of salt that allows scientists to deduce that drinkable water was available on Early Mars (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).
On that note, another huge discovery uncovered by Curiosity is that there was water on Mars. Based on the observations and images taken from Curiosity, the position of rocks demonstrates fossil formations of an ancient streambed on Mars. This was heavily found in area on Mars called Yellowknife Bay (“NASA’s…”). Clearly, this discovery further supports the idea that there was life on Mars.
Curiosity’s images of Yellowknife Bay have demonstrated that there was a diversity of environment. Samples taken from this area show that there’s diversity within the soil and varieties of rocks (“NASA’s…”) In fact, the environmental diversity found on Mars is another example that there had been water on Mars. Many of the rocks collected had cracks that contained mineral veins (Kaufman). More so, there were sand dunes found in this area so one can assume that fluvial sediment transport processes occurred (Jet Propulsion Laboratory; “NASA’s…”).
Another discovery Curiosity made during its first year on Mars was the extreme radiation that it met (Kaufman; “NASA’s…”). The intense amounts of radiation found on Mars is quite dangerous if exposed onto humans, or specifically astronauts. By using the measurements of the radiation, scientists are currently looking for ways to make it safer for astronauts by designing specific missions in specific areas (“NASA’s…”) However, Curiosity’s encounter with radiation is helpful for scientists because they can now assume that perhaps this extreme radiation is the cause for not finding life on Mars easily. Radiation has the ability to damage carbon chemistry therefore making it difficult for Curiosity to find evidence of life on Mars (Kaufman). Nonetheless, as Curiosity journeys across Mars, scientists are hoping that it can find areas that are not as exposed or damaged by the radiation to drill and explore.
Despite these successful discoveries, Curiosity is yet to find methane on Mars. By finding methane, scientists can conclude that life did exist on Mars since living organisms produce this essential gas. Nonetheless, Curiosity still has a long way to go as it treks across Mars and searches for more evidence of life on Mars.
In fact, by next year Curiosity would have reached it’s next destination Mars, Mount Sharp (Kaufman). NASA anticipates that Curiosity will find evidence of Mars’ evolution from Early Mars to the Mars we know today. Also, another goal is to compare the samples taken from rocks in Yellowknife Bay and Mount Sharp and determining if these samples differ in age. Hopefully by next year, Curiosity’s trek would be over and has collected samples from Mount Sharp of scientists. With only eight more months to go, people all over the world are anticipating Curiosity’s findings. I know we are, the question is are you?
An Infographic of Curiosity's landing. 2013. RIA Novosti Infographics, Russia. RIA Novosti. Web. 7 Dec. 2013.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Mars Science Laboratory: Celebrate Your Curiosity: Anniversary Week Activities." Mars Science Laboratory: Celebrate Your Curiosity: Anniversary Week Activities. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. <http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/1stbday/>.
Kaufman, Marc. "Six Cool Takeaways From NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity Discoveries." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 9 Dec. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/12/131209-curiosity-mars-takeaways-science-life-space/>.
"NASA's Curiosity Rover Celebrates One Year on Mars." Space.com. N.p., 5 Aug. 2013. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. <http://www.space.com/22233-nasa-mars-rover-curiosity-first-year.html>.