page_title: Curiosity rover
section_title: Landing site
hierarchical_section_title: Curiosity rover / Landing site
context_page_description: The Curiosity rover is a robotic car-sized Mars rover. It is exploring Gale Crater, which is near the equator of Mars. The rover uses a nuclear power and is part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory.
  The MSL mission has four main scientific goals: study Martian climate and geology, search for water, and find out whether Mars could have ever supported life. Curiosity carries the most advanced scientific equipment ever used on the surface of Mars.
  Curiosity is the fourth NASA surface rover sent to Mars in 16 years. Curiosity is also the heaviest robotic wheeled vehicle to have ever landed on Mars. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011 at 10:02 EST. It successfully landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05:21:27 UTC.
  In December 2012, Curiosity's two-year mission was extended indefinitely. On August 7, 2017, NASA celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Curiosity rover landing and related exploratory accomplishments on the planet Mars. The rover is still operational, and as of July 8, 2020, Curiosity has been on Mars for 2816 sols since landing on August 6, 2012.
context_section_description: The rover's landing was planned for a small region of Aeolis Palus within Gale crater. Gale crater is an about 2 billion-years-old impact crater on Mars. It was filled with sediments by water and wind. Later, wind erosion removed all sediments, leaving a 5.5 km (3.4 mile) high mountain (Mount Sharp). 
  The crater is 154 km (94 mi) wide. The crater was chosen because it may allow for the study of two billion years of Martian history. The landing site is also near an alluvial fan. The alluvial fan is believed to be the result of a flow of ground water.
caption: The original landing site for Curiosity.
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