Curiosity (rover) counted. Previous NASA Mars rovers became active only after the successful entry, descent and landing on the Martian surface. "Curiosity", on the other hand, was active when it touched down on the surface of Mars, employing the rover suspension system for the final set-down. "Curiosity" transformed from its stowed flight configuration to a landing configuration while the MSL spacecraft simultaneously lowered it beneath the spacecraft descent stage with a tether from the "sky crane" system to a soft landing—wheels down—on the surface of Mars. After the rover touched down it waited 2 seconds to confirm that it was on solid
Mount Sharp begin an journey from the Glenelg area to the base of Aeolis Mons. On November 13, 2013, NASA announced that an entryway "Curiosity" would traverse on its way to Aeolis Mons was to be named "Murray Buttes", in honor of planetary scientist Bruce C. Murray (1931–2013). The trip was expected to take about a year and would include stops along the way to study the local terrain. On September 11, 2014, NASA announced that the "Curiosity" rover had reached Aeolis Mons, the rover mission's long-term prime destination. On October 5, 2015, possible recurrent slope lineae, wet brine flows, were reported