NASA’s Curiosity rover, designed to explore the challenging surface of Mars, has faced significant wear and tear during its 14-year mission. Recent evidence of this damage was revealed in a time-lapse video shared by NASA, which highlights the rover’s deteriorating wheels over the past six years.
The two-minute video combines images captured by one of Curiosity’s navigation cameras, documenting conditions from January 2020 to March 2026. The pictures show the rover’s six wheels, each approximately 20 inches in diameter, navigating rocky and dusty terrain. NASA stated that this time-lapse will help the team monitor shifts in sand on the rover’s surface, as these changes can provide insights into seasonal atmospheric variations.
Curiosity, along with its companion rover Perseverance, explores Mars to find evidence that the planet may have once supported life. While Curiosity examines the Gale Crater, a site believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, Perseverance operates in the nearby Jezero Crater.
Despite the harsh conditions, Curiosity has significantly outlived its expected two-year lifespan. NASA has noted the rover has suffered damage, such as dents and holes in its wheels, caused by the tough Martian landscape. However, even after years of exposure to these elements, Curiosity continues to contribute to our understanding of Mars, having made notable discoveries including organic compounds.
NASA remains attentive to the rover’s condition as it presses on in its mission to uncover the planet’s history.
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