Video: Curiosity Rover Celebrates 3 Years on Mars
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover takes a self-portrait. NASA
It's been several years and a lot of mineral samples.
Happy anniversary, Curiosity!
The latest visitor to Mars landed on the Red Planet in August 2012 inside Mars' Gale cCater.
In the three years (or 1,000 Martian days) since, the rover has traveled nearly 11 kilometers and slowly made its way up to Mount Sharp.
Along the way, Curiosity has taken mineral samples of the crater, which revealed evidence of fresh water and possibly life from long ago on the planet, and snapped amazing up-close and never before seen photos of the Martian surface.
Currently, Curiosity's team of engineers are using images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to guide the rover through the rugged terrain of Mount Sharp.
As the vehicle makes its ascent, Curiosity continues to discover things in the Martian soil, including high amounts of silica in the mountain rock, bringing up more questions about Mars' past ability to sustain life.
To see the rover in action, check out the video from NASA below: