Rocknest (Mars) Rocknest (Mars) Rocknest is a sand patch on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale crater on the planet Mars. The patch was encountered by the Curiosity rover on the way from Bradbury Landing to Glenelg Intrigue on September 28, 2012. The "approximate" site coordinates are: . The sand patch is downhill from a cluster of dark rocks. NASA determined the patch to be the location for the first use of the scoop on the arm of the Mars "Curiosity rover". The ""Rocknest"" patch is about by . On October 7, 2012,
Rover (space exploration) The Marsokhod was a " heavy" Soviet rover (hybrid, with both controls telecommand and automatic) aimed at Mars, part of the Mars 4NM and scheduled to be released (after 1973 according to the plans of 1970) launched by a N1 rocket that never arrived to fly successfully. The Mars Pathfinder mission included "Sojourner", the first rover to successfully deploy on another planet. NASA, the space agency of the United States, launched Mars Pathfinder on 4 December 1996; it landed on Mars in a region called Chryse Planitia on 4 July 1997. From its landing until the final data transmission on