Nuclear power has kept Curiosity rover running for an entire Martian year - Science Recorder

It is party time for the handlers of NASA's Mars Curiosity rover. The intrepid nuclear-powered dune buggy is celebrating its first Martian year—687 Earth days—on the Red Planet.

Curiosity first touched down on Martian soil on August 6, 2012, to begin its mission of finding out if Mars could once have supported life. The rover achieved that goal in March of 2013 when NASA officials reported that rock samples taken at Yellowknife Bay showed liquid water once flowed across the Red Planet and contained all the necessary ingredients for sustaining life.

As the rover wends its way to its ultimate destination on the slopes of Mount Sharp, where intriguing rock stratification may help scientists understand how the Martian environment changed over time.

"It's too early for conclusions, but we expect the results to help us connect what we learned at Yellowknife Bay to what we'll learn at Mount Sharp," said John Grotzinger, a Curiosity project scientist at the California Institute of Technology, in a statement. He added that the last drilling site at Windjana "is still within an area where a river flowed. We see signs of a complex history of interaction between water and rock."

Curiosity's one-Martian-year anniversary also represents the rover's expected life span. However, it appears to still be in good working order, according to NASA. Its nuclear core is functioning well, its instruments are working fine, and its software has been upgraded several times. The space agency has said that Curiosity could last up to ten Earth years, so long as funding for the mission continues.

One problem for Curiosity is the Martian landscape, which contains sharp embedded rocks that are tough on the rover's six metal wheels. After images revealed numerous dents and tears in the wheels, NASA began to guide the rover more carefully to avoid the roughest, rockiest terrain. The Curiosity team is using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to help plan the safest route.

"We are getting in some long drives using what we have learned," said Jim Erickson, Curiosity team member at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "When you're exploring another planet, you expect surprises. The sharp, embedded rocks were a bad surprise. Yellowknife Bay was a good surprise."

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