Curiosity is a car - sized rover designed to explore Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA 's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011, at 15: 02 UTC aboard the MSL spacecraft and landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012, 05: 17 UTC. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover 's touchdown target after a 560 million km (350 million mi) journey. The rover 's goals include an investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration.
when did the mars rover land on mars
August 6, 2012