Watch: This is how NASA's Mars rover looks from space
What's the story
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an image of the Curiosity rover driving across the planet. The orbiter took the photograph as it flew over Gale Crater, where Curiosity has been working since August 2012. The image shows the rover as a small black dot against the lighter Martian sands. It also depicts a long gray line behind it - Curiosity's wheel tracks that span some 320m.
Rover's journey
Slow and steady exploration of Mars
Curiosity's slow pace is a deliberate strategy, enabling it to conserve power while traversing the difficult Martian terrain. The rover runs on a 110W nuclear generator, and travels at a maximum speed of just 160m per hour, nearly 40 times slower than an average human's walking speed. So far, it has only traveled 34.59km on Mars.
Scientific exploration
Curiosity's significant discoveries and future plans
Over its journey, Curiosity has made some major discoveries. In February, it crossed the Gediz Vallis channel, a place thought to have been sculpted by huge floods of water. Here, it found a cache of pure sulfur. The rover has also examined various features like Devil's Gate butte and Hale Telescope formation. Now, it is moving toward boxwork formations at the base of Mount Sharp - potentially promising sites to find evidence of ancient life on Mars.