<p>NASA's rover Curiosity, the most advanced roving laboratory on Mars, has celebrated its second anniversary on the Red planet.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The unmanned spacecraft landed inside the Gale Crater on August 5, 2012 to start a multi-year mission to seek out areas where life could or may once have existed.<br /><br />During its first year of operations, Curiosity fulfilled its major science goal of determining whether Mars ever offered environmental conditions favourable for microbial life, NASA said.<br /><br />Clay-bearing sedimentary rocks on the crater floor in an area called Yellowknife Bay yielded evidence of a lake-bed environment billions of years ago that offered fresh water, all of the key elemental ingredients for life, and a chemical source of energy for microbes, if any existed there.<br /><br />"Before landing, we expected that we would need to drive much farther before answering that habitability question," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.<br /><br />"We were able to take advantage of landing very close to an ancient stream-bed and lake. Now we want to learn more about how environmental conditions on Mars evolved, and we know where to go to do that," said Grotzinger.<br /><br />During its second year, Curiosity has been driving towards long-term science destinations on lower slopes of Mount Sharp.<br /><br />Those destinations are in an area beginning about 3 kilometres southwest of the rover's current location, but an appetiser outcrop of a base layer of the mountain lies much closer - less than 500 meters from Curiosity. The rover team is calling the outcrop "Pahrump Hills."<br /><br />The rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, drove Curiosity across an area of hazardous sharp rocks on Mars called "Zabriskie Plateau."<br />Damage to Curiosity's aluminium wheels from driving across similar terrain last year prompted a change in route, with the plan of skirting such rock-studded terrain wherever feasible.<br /><br />The 200 meters across Zabriskie Plateau was one of the longest stretches without a suitable detour on the redesigned route towards the long-term science destination.<br />Another recent challenge appeared last week in the form of unexpected behaviour by an onboard computer currently serving as backup.<br /><br />Curiosity carries duplicate main computers. It has been operating on its B-side computer since a problem with the A-side computer prompted the team to command a side swap in February 2013.<br /><br />In 2016, a Mars lander mission called InSight will launch to take the first look into the deep interior of Mars.</p>
<p>NASA's rover Curiosity, the most advanced roving laboratory on Mars, has celebrated its second anniversary on the Red planet.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The unmanned spacecraft landed inside the Gale Crater on August 5, 2012 to start a multi-year mission to seek out areas where life could or may once have existed.<br /><br />During its first year of operations, Curiosity fulfilled its major science goal of determining whether Mars ever offered environmental conditions favourable for microbial life, NASA said.<br /><br />Clay-bearing sedimentary rocks on the crater floor in an area called Yellowknife Bay yielded evidence of a lake-bed environment billions of years ago that offered fresh water, all of the key elemental ingredients for life, and a chemical source of energy for microbes, if any existed there.<br /><br />"Before landing, we expected that we would need to drive much farther before answering that habitability question," said Curiosity Project Scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.<br /><br />"We were able to take advantage of landing very close to an ancient stream-bed and lake. Now we want to learn more about how environmental conditions on Mars evolved, and we know where to go to do that," said Grotzinger.<br /><br />During its second year, Curiosity has been driving towards long-term science destinations on lower slopes of Mount Sharp.<br /><br />Those destinations are in an area beginning about 3 kilometres southwest of the rover's current location, but an appetiser outcrop of a base layer of the mountain lies much closer - less than 500 meters from Curiosity. The rover team is calling the outcrop "Pahrump Hills."<br /><br />The rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, drove Curiosity across an area of hazardous sharp rocks on Mars called "Zabriskie Plateau."<br />Damage to Curiosity's aluminium wheels from driving across similar terrain last year prompted a change in route, with the plan of skirting such rock-studded terrain wherever feasible.<br /><br />The 200 meters across Zabriskie Plateau was one of the longest stretches without a suitable detour on the redesigned route towards the long-term science destination.<br />Another recent challenge appeared last week in the form of unexpected behaviour by an onboard computer currently serving as backup.<br /><br />Curiosity carries duplicate main computers. It has been operating on its B-side computer since a problem with the A-side computer prompted the team to command a side swap in February 2013.<br /><br />In 2016, a Mars lander mission called InSight will launch to take the first look into the deep interior of Mars.</p>