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
Spirit (rover) Spirit (rover) Spirit, also known as MER-A (Mars Exploration Rover – A) or MER-2, is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, "Opportunity" (MER-B), which landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication with Earth was sent on March 22, 2010. The rover completed its