Nasa Curiosity rover celebrates 3,000 days on Mars

Image source, NASA

Nasa's Curiosity rover has reached a special milestone on Mars.

It has spent 3,000 Martian days on the Red Planet since landing on 6 August 2012.

A Martian day, which is also called a 'sol', is a little longer than a normal day on Earth. It lasts for just over 24 hours and 39 minutes.

The Curiosity rover has been exploring the surface of Mars since arriving, and has made some pretty cool discoveries - even taking the first selfie on Mars!

Image source, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Image caption, This panorama, made up of 122 individual images stitched together, was taken by Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover on 18 November 2020, the 2,946th Martian day, or sol, of the mission

US space agency Nasa marked the anniversary on Tuesday with the release of a new image from the Red Planet.

Made from 122 photos taken by the rover, which have been stitched together, it shows the Gale Crater and part of a massive mountain called Mount Sharp.

They were snapped on 18 November 2020, which was Martian Sol 2946.

Don't expect this rover to stop it's hard work now though! Nasa said it is now heading toward a region known as the "sulfate-bearing unit".

Curiosity will soon be joined on Mars by another Nasa rover called Perseverance, which is expected to touch down in February.