
Curiosity got the best of us in 2012
We didn’t meet Martians in 2012, but we did get exponentially closer to the red planet. Curiosity is a one-ton, car-sized rover that was launched by NASA in November 2011. It made its Mars landing on August 6, 2012 in a gorgeously nerve-racking way. After plunging into Mars’ atmosphere at 13,000 mph, the spacecraft had to deploy a massive supersonic parachute to slow its dive to 200 mph, then fire rockets to drop under 2 mph. There were seven minutes of terror when a rocket-powered sky crane lowered Curiosity to the Mars surface with cables, before zooming off and crashing a safe distance away from the primary landing site. Today, the rover is still operational, sending beautiful images and providing scientists with interstellar insight.Â
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Like any good story, Curiosity was only the beginning. A new rover is set to join Curiosity on the red planet in 2021.
- SOURCE: NASA
- BRAND: NASA
- WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: We are getting closer to Mission to Mars!

AUTHOR: Dan Nelsen
ORIGIN:Â Speaking Human Contributor
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