PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory made a big announcement Thursday. The Mars rover Curiosity made it to its long-term destination of Mount Sharp.
The mountain was the prime destination for the rover.
Mount Sharp is about the size of Mount Rainer and is in the center of the Gale Crater.
Over the weeks, months and years to come, Curiosity will analyze the layers of rock at Mount Sharp. That will build up a timeline for the shifts in climate and geology.
Curiosity will start the job by checking out rocks on the lower slopes of the mountain, near an outcrop nicknamed Pahrump Hills. It's a different route than the Curiosity team originally wanted the rover to take.
The team changed the rover's route through Pahrump Hills to reduce any potential wear and tear on Curiosity's already-battered wheels.
"The nature of the terrain at Pahrump Hills and just beyond it is a better place than Murray Buttes to learn about the significance of this contact. The exposures at the contact are better due to greater topographic relief," Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger said.
