<P> 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 . </P>
<P> 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 . </P>
when did the mars rover land on mars
when did the mars rover land on mars
August 6 , 2012
August 6 , 2012