Curiosity plans 5 mile hike on Mars

The Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars is coming to an end of its exploratory period in Gale Crater and is planning to take a hike to its next target, Mount Sharp, which is 5 miles away. Since it hit the planet's surface in an area known as Bradbury Landing, named after the science fiction writer Ray Bradbury who died in 2012, Curiosity has travelled relatively short distances. So far it has found evidence of an ancient Martian stream bed, indicative of the presence of water at one time, and has drilled two rocks to gain material for analysis by its onboard suite of instruments.

One of its last actions in Gale Crater was to examine an outcrop named Point Lake (pictured) which is about 2 m wide and 50 cm high, and may be of volcanic or sedimentary origin.

The main target in this NASA mission has always been Mount Sharp which features exposed strata and an area of layered buttes and mesas (flat-topped rocks) that might yield clues to the geological history on Mars. It will again use its suite of instruments, including the CheMin and SAM modules.

The controllers of Curiosity admit that they don't know how long this drive will take but it will be several months, depending on what they come across on the way and the detours they might have to take for safe passage.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS