Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory November 27, 2013, an overview (titled, "The World of Mars") of current and proposed Mars exploration by John Grotzinger, chief scientist of the "Curiosity" rover mission, was published in the New York Times. On December 9, 2013, NASA reported that the planet Mars had a large freshwater lake (which could have been a hospitable environment for microbial life) based on evidence from the "Curiosity" rover studying Aeolis Palus near Mount Sharp in Gale Crater. On December 9, 2013, NASA researchers described, in a series of six articles in the journal Science, many new discoveries from the "Curiosity" rover. Possible organics
Mars 2020 that were under consideration for Mars 2020. A workshop was held on 8–10 February 2017 in Pasadena, California, to discuss these sites, with the goal of narrowing down the list to three sites for further consideration. The selected sites are: In November 2018, it was announced that Jezero crater was chosen as the planned landing site for Mars 2020 rover. A key mission requirement for this rover is that it must help prepare NASA for its Mars sample-return mission (MSR) campaign, which is needed before any crewed mission takes place. Such effort would require three additional vehicles: an orbiter, a