Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed "Curiosity", a Mars rover, in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012. The overall objectives include investigating Mars' habitability, studying its climate and geology, and collecting data for a manned mission to Mars. The rover carries a variety of scientific instruments designed by an international team. MSL successfully carried out the most accurate Martian landing of any known spacecraft, hitting a small target landing ellipse of only , in the Aeolis Palus region of Gale Crater.
Scientific information from the Mars Exploration Rover mission the Martian sky. A transit of Mercury from Mars took place on January 12, 2005 from about 14:45 UTC to 23:05 UTC, but camera resolution did not permit seeing Mercury's 6.1" angular diameter. Transits of Deimos across the Sun were seen, but at 2' angular diameter, Deimos is about 20 times larger than Mercury's 6.1" angular diameter. Scientific information from the Mars Exploration Rover mission NASA's 2003 Mars Exploration Rover Mission has amassed an enormous amount of scientific information related to the Martian geology and atmosphere, as well as providing some astronomical observations from Mars. This article covers information gathered