A giant crater on Mars destined to be the stomping ground for NASA’s next rover could provide a treasure trove of intriguing science finds, researchers say.
NASA’s car-size, $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, also known as Curiosity, is slated to blast off in late November and arrive at the Red Planet in August 2012. It’ll touch down near the foot of a 3-mile (5-kilometer) high mountain in a massive crater called Gale.
Curiosity’s traverses around Gale Crater and its central mountain should reveal a great deal about Martian history and the planet’s past potential to host life, scientists say.