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
International Year of Planet Earth International Year of Planet Earth The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences for the advancement of sustainable development. UNESCO was designated as the lead agency. The Year's activities spanned the three years 2006-2009. The Year aimed to raise $20 million from industry and governments, of which half was to be spent on co-funding research, and half on "outreach" activities. It was intended to be the biggest ever international effort to promote the Earth sciences. Apart from researchers, who were expected to benefit under the