Curiosity (rover) arm operations were cleared to continue, but drilling remained suspended indefinitely. The "Curiosity" team continued to perform diagnostics and testing on the drill mechanism throughout 2017. "Curiosity" has an advanced payload of scientific equipment on Mars. It is the fourth NASA unmanned surface rover sent to Mars since 1996. Previous successful Mars rovers are "Sojourner" from the Mars Pathfinder mission (1997), and "Spirit" (2004–2010) and "Opportunity" (2004–present) rovers from the Mars Exploration Rover mission. "Curiosity" is long by wide by in height, larger than Mars Exploration Rovers, which are long and have a mass of including of scientific instruments. In
Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu the Caltech, earned in 2007. He joined the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 1999 and rose through the ranks to become the leader of the team that designed the Mars Rover robot that landed on the red planet. Over the years, his responsibilities have involved flight projects, flight projects review boards, mission formulation, technology tasks, technical writing and proposals. He also served as a reviewer for NASA Science Mission Directorate technology proposals and NASA Office of Education proposals. Other engagements at NASA are 2003 - Mars Exploration Rover, 2007 - Phoenix Mars Lander and Mars Science Laboratory which is scheduled