14 DAY TRIAL // While NASA is busy planning its next Mars rover, which is scheduled to launch in 2020, its most recently launched one still has plenty of life in it and a lot of things to do.
However, most of those things will be at the end of an epic journey to the base of Mount Sharp which should take at least a year.
The rover has now made its third drive towards the location, getting it 41 meters (135 feet) closer to its target. Considering that its target is eight kilometers (five miles) away, that's not exactly impressive.
Still, this third drive, on Earth date July 9, was almost as long as the first two combined. In total, Curiosity has driven 99 meters (325 feet) since leaving the Glenelg area behind.
The distance traveled each day should increase as NASA's engineers become more confident in the rover's abilities, though rough terrain, rougher than usual anyway, may be a problem on occasion.